Lance Stephenson determined to win Terrific 12 in his first tournament with Liaoning

Former NBA player Lance Stephenson. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MACAU—Lance Stephenson has only been playing two games in with his new team Liaoning in preparation for the new CBA season.

The former Los Angeles Laker played his first matches with the Flying Leopards in the East Asia Super League: The Terrific 12, but Stephenson isn’t someone to breeze through the motions.

Stephenson led the Flying Leopards to the semifinals of the Terrific 12 where they will face 27-time PBA champion in the penultimate round.

“Every game that I play I approach it as a championship game,” said Stephenson Friday at Tap Seac Sports Pavilion here. “When I’m on the floor, I want to win.”

Stephenson has been stat sheet stuffer so far, putting up 28 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 7.0 assists to lead Liaoning to the top of Group D with a 2-0 record.

Liaoning romped its competition starting with a 96-91 victory over TNT and following it up with a 110-82 dismantling of Niigata to close out the group stage.

It’s in these games that Stephenson wanted to assimilate himself better with his teammates.

“My goal is to learn my teammates so we’d be ready for the competition,” said Stephenson.