Lance Stephenson Sprained His Right Ankle, Will Likely Miss Time

Early in the third quarter of tonight’s game, Lance Stephenson pushed the ball aggressively up the court into traffic. He turned nothing into a slow-break and made a great kickout to Paul George for a three-pointer.

As he was making the drive, however, he badly rolled his right ankle.

By the time George was hitting his shot, Lance was down on the end line, holding his leg in anguish and slapping the floor in pain. Scott Agness of Pacers.com gave this assessment.

Lance Stephenson down on the baseline. Pacers assistant trainer Carl Eaton was tending to his right ankle. Now teammates carried him off.

— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) December 13, 2012

A few minutes later, the Pacers issued the official prognosis.

Lance Stephenson had his right ankle X-ray’d. Training staff calls it a moderate sprain and he won’t return.

— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) December 13, 2012

Bad news for a team that is struggling mightily to get anything out of its second unit. Gerald Green (1-for-7 with 2 points entering the fourth quarter tonight) and Sam Young (shooting 40.5% on the season) will likely need to play more minutes if Stephenson misses any time.

Indiana plays Friday at home against Philadelphia and in Detroit on Saturday night.