When the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers were paired together in the first round of the playoffs, one of the major subplots of the series surrounded LeBron James and Lance Stephenson.

The duo famously built up a rivalry on the court during several postseason meetings between 2012-2014 when James' Miami Heat team faced Stephenson and the Pacers three years on the bounce.

LeBron came out on top on every occasion and let his play do the talking instead of giving into his opponent's antics on the floor and allowing him to get into his head.

Having resumed acquaintances again for these playoffs, Stephenson is once again attempting to put the Cavs superstar off his game by any means necessary.

After years of trying, the Pacers veteran finally managed to ruffle LBJ's feathers during their game four encounter in Indiana on Sunday night.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers called a timeout but Stephenson deliberately stuck close to James and stayed in his face as he was making his way back to the Cleveland bench.

Clearly annoyed by this, LeBron shoved him with his forearm and it resulted in a rare technical foul. This was just the 16th technical in 221 career playoff games for the three-time champion.

Speaking about it after the game, the 33-year-old expressed disappointment in himself for falling for the bait and provided an interesting analogy to describe the incident.

"I mean, I shouldn't have even gotten a tech in the first place," James said, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin. "There's a timeout called and this guy's following me to my bench. I gave him a little nudge and he falls to half court. Come on. But I should know better. I should know better.

"I've been dealing with this since elementary [school]. It's like I tell you a joke, you know, I tell you a joke and you laugh and you get caught. That's what happened. Lance told me a joke, I laughed, teacher caught me, now I've got to go see the principal. That's what happened."

The fourth quarter was all about the Indiana guard in more ways than one. He was inexplicably called for a travel as he walked with the ball after an inbounds pass and was assessed with a flagrant foul in the crucial final seconds for a hit on Jeff Green that helped Cleveland claim the win.

But despite his run-ins with multiple Cavaliers, Green insists it won't affect them and alter their focus.

"Honestly, it was nothing," Jeff Green told ESPN after Stephenson was called for a foul on him with nine seconds left. "I mean, I may have reacted because I'm not going to allow him to do what he did, but other than that, it's nothing."

Stephenson is sure to receive a hostile reception from the Cavs fans when the series shifts back to Ohio for game five of this finely poised series.

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