The Los Angeles Clippers traded for Lance Stephenson with the hopes that he could provide the scoring and defense on the wings that the Clippers had lacked the past few seasons. While Stephenson had a disastrous season in Charlotte, the Clippers thought that Doc Rivers could bring out the best of him. The problem with Stephenson is that the best and worst of Lance often come in the same game – sometimes in the same sequence. Case in point: this amazing and hilarious airball layup.
Rather than take the wide open jump shot after DeAndre Jordan’s screen frees him of James Harden, Stephenson elects to drive to the rim. That’s not a bad decision, considering the space he has to drive and the general rule of never settling for jumpers. He gets by Harden and and Trevor Ariza (who makes a half-hearted effort to steal the ball) easily enough, but then comes face-to-face with Dwight Howard. Here’s where good Lance turns into bad Lance.
First, Lance takes an awkward angle to the basket. Instead of going straight at Howard to try and draw contact, he goes a bit wide of the basket and attempts to shoot over Howard’s outstretched hands. And, hey, he did manage to shoot it over Howard! But he also managed to shoot it over the entire backboard, resulting in both a missed shot and a turnover.
That’s the full Lance Stephenson experience right there.
