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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HEAT v PACERSMay 19, 2014Lance StephensonINDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA: Practice Day Q. What do you guys do for an encore in Game 2 then? After what you did in this game. LANCE STEPHENSON: Just keep playing aggressive, making smart plays. Just playing together and locking on defense. Q. Knowing how good the Heat have been after a loss to come back and win, can you match that start that you guys had yesterday, kind of effort? LANCE STEPHENSON: Yeah, if we be aggressive and play the same way we played last game, a little bit better. The Heat is a great team, and they're going to come out aggressive. LeBron is the best player in the league. So I know they're going to respond tomorrow. Q. You guys know them so well. How much does that help knowing these two teams know each other about as well as any teams in the East? LANCE STEPHENSON: It helps a lot. We played each other four times this year. We knew each other a lot. We wanted to play against each other. So every night it will be a tough night. We've just got to be the first one to four. Q. Everyone talks about home court. How big is this game‑‑ I know it's only Game 2 tomorrow‑‑ to take care of home court? LANCE STEPHENSON: Definitely take care of home court. We want to get as much wins as possible. We know they're going to come out aggressive. We've just got to stay together and stay poised and just make the right plays. Q. Lance, what do you guys expect from LeBron James tomorrow? How do you deal with that? LANCE STEPHENSON: He's going to come out aggressive. He's going to come out smart. He's going to show why they're the champs. So we've just got to respond back when we play against him. Q. Lance, there were times in Game 1 when the fans were trying to interact with you, like they thought you had your head down because you weren't as animate as you've been before. Is that kind of the flip side of being Lance, that people really don't know how to read you at times? LANCE STEPHENSON: Playing against the Heat, I've got to calm down by little antics. So I decided I'm not going to do none of that at all. I'm just going to stay poised and just play with my team. Q. Does it impact you at all in how you play? LANCE STEPHENSON: I mean, when I do some dances and stuff or get the crowd involved, I actually play better. But if it's going to help my teammates and help me stay in the game, I'm definitely not going to do that. Q. You must have the sense from the past couple of games that have been fairly straightforward performances by very good ones, that you can be pretty good without all of that, right? LANCE STEPHENSON: Yeah, definitely. Q. What's it like to have Larry Bird in your presence and on your side? LANCE STEPHENSON: I mean, Larry's a big part of our future. He's helped me so much this year and the years I've been here. Just having him to be there to show me how to be a pro, it's great. He's one of the greatest players to ever play the game. Just having that voice behind me here gives me a lot of confidence. Q. What are some of the things that he's done or said that's really helped you specifically? LANCE STEPHENSON: He's just given me a little advice before games and what I need to do to be a better player and be a great teammate. Q. What kind of stuff? Anything you can share? LANCE STEPHENSON: Can't tell you. Q. What did you grow up thinking about Larry Bird in New York? LANCE STEPHENSON: I mean, Larry Bird was my favorite player. That's why I wore 33 in college, because of Larry Bird. Definitely my favorite player growing up. Q. Lance, what's helped you guys deal with so many distractions this year? It just seems like you guys have handled that really well. LANCE STEPHENSON: I think it helped us and brung us together.  All the drama, all the stuff that's been coming out with the media definitely brung us together and made us more a family. Q. Lance, you've taken each step you get a little bit farther through the years. How do you take the next step? LANCE STEPHENSON: Next step is just keep winning. I mean, stay with my team. Just stay poised. Q. Can you guys do that three more times? LANCE STEPHENSON: It's going to be tough. We're playing against the champs. They're going to come out aggressive tomorrow. We've just got to respond. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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