With Rajon Rondo suspended until Saturday and Lonzo Ball in his place among the starters, there was an opening to run point for the Lakers’ second unit.
Though he’s a far-from-traditional playmaker, Lance Stephenson stepped into that role and seized it as his own in Wednesday’s 131-113 win at Phoenix, packing 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting, eight rebounds and eight assists into only 25 minutes of work.
Stephenson was the Lakers’ first man off the bench, and immediately went into distributor mode.
As part of a four-minute stretch that saw him hand out four assists, he made two reads that led to a couple open 3-point attempts — something many wings are incapable of executing — and even got himself a put-back as one bounced off the rim.