Lance Stephenson gets a 30 piece, where was that for the Atlanta Hawks?

The Atlanta Hawks absolutely made the right call by moving on from Lance Stephenson. He was out of rhythm with the team and as a result, was only able to average 1.8 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in 11.7 minutes per game which was not good enough for the Hawks to keep him.

He moved on to sign a ten-day contract with the Indiana Pacers. Straight away looked more like the player who led the league in triple-doubles before Russell Westbrook made them common-place. When he was with the Hawks he looked like a player who was past his prime but knew the game.

In his first two games for the Pacers, Stephenson looked solid. He managed to average 5.5 points, 2.5 assists, and 2.0 rebounds in 15.0 minutes per game.  The Hawks would have loved to have seen some of this when he was a member of their franchise.

The Atlanta Hawks needed some of Lance Stephenson’s explosion against the Brooklyn Nets

Stephenson came off the bench against the Nets, and in the first quarter of the game, he went for 20 points. To put it into greater perspective, Stephenson played just under six and a half minutes and made eight of his nine attempts from the floor, four of his five from beyond the arc.

Stephenson ended the game with 30 points, five assists, and three rebounds in just 32 minutes played. This is just incredible for a player who looked finished with the Hawks just the week before. The question is, why was he so much better with the Pacers than the Hawks.

One of the reasons is that he has been forced to play a different role with the Pacers who were without their starting backcourt. The Hawks always had a starting guard in every game that Stephenson played.

Another reason is that Stephenson probably felt more at home playing for the Pacers. He originally chose to leave them when he signed his first big contract with the Charlotte Hornets. Walking back into the franchise would be a whole lot easier than going into a new franchise where you need to impress to continue your career.

Whatever made the difference, Stephenson showed us that he can still produce in this league. It would have been nice for him to have done this for the Hawks but it was not to be.