Candace Buckner

candace.buckner@indystar.com

On Wednesday, Evan Turner and Lance Stephenson acknowledged a physical encounter that occurred during a practice before the start of the Indiana Pacers' first-round playoff series against the Atlanta Hawks.

Yahoo! Sports first reported that there was "a practice-floor fistfight" involving Turner and Stephenson last Friday. A source familiar with the situation described the story to The Star as "pretty accurate." However on Wednesday, Turner and Stephenson, as well as other Pacers, downplayed the incident as a commonplace tangling up that happens during practices.

"We're competitive players," Stephenson said. "We got (into) a little scuffle but it was just practice related. No blows, just playing hard and getting ready for the playoffs. I mean, I've got no problem with him."

Turner also denied that the fracas escalated to fists.

"Honestly, the person who wrote the article asked me if the fight happened, I told him 'No, it wasn't (a fight),' and he just went on and wrote that there were punches thrown and all this and it wasn't. It was just a tangle up and that was it," Turner told The Star while on his way to catch the team plane to Atlanta. "That was it and I don't think there's anything really to speak on in regards to being that big a deal. But the whole thing of everybody reading that punches got thrown and all this nonsense occurred, that never happened. Not one punch (was) thrown. Lance and I are pretty big guys. I think you'd see a sign of a punch thrown, ya know?"

Even so, Turner has two large scratch marks on the left side of his neck. On Saturday night, Turner would not reveal how he received the scratches, only saying that he was fouled during the previous practice by a teammate. On Wednesday, Turner informed The Star that "I got scratched but that was pretty much it," while describing the "five-second mishap" with Stephenson.

"It was just like in a big pile," Turner said. "I just think we bumped into each other a couple times and that was it."

Turner said he and Stephenson were grouped together in 2010 in the NBA's rookie transition program and, once he joined the Pacers after the Danny Granger trade, they have gotten along as teammates.

"I never really had a real problem with Lance, to tell you the truth," Turner said. "We sit near each other on the plane and we sit near each other on the bus. It wasn't anything worth – there was never no bad blood."

The 23-year-old Stephenson makes no apologies for his a knack for getting under players' skin with his brashness.

"I'm definitely a trash-talker coming from New York, we talk trash all the time," Stephenson said. "That was built in me when I was young.

"I just try to get our confidence built up. Sometimes I go, 'Hey let's go,' I get into other guys and it's just … being competitive and getting each other ready for the playoffs and the physical part of the game, so I just try to be that guy to do that sometimes."

Even so, Stephenson continues to be a work in progress when it comes to recognizing how his demeanor and body language are interpreted. On Tuesday night in Game 2 when Stephenson checked out in the third quarter, the TNT cameras caught him walking towards the bench with his head lowered before standing apart of the team near the railings.

"He stands over there because he feels like he gets tight on the bench," Pacers coach Frank Vogel explained. "He likes to keep moving. He's a high-energy (guy), he's a live wire. Danny Granger used to do that, Jeff Foster used to do that. I don't think it's anything more than that, I think people read into it. But our conversations are always really positive. He's a really coachable guy and I'm a big fan of his for a good reason."

Call Star reporter Candace Buckner at (317) 444-6121. Follow her on Twitter: @CandaceDBuckner.