Lance Stephenson showing he may be the Los Angeles Clippers X-factor

Sam Amick | USA TODAY Sports

Show Caption Hide Caption NBA Fast Break: Clippers look to excite in the West USA TODAY Sports' Sam Amick talks about the Los Angeles Clippers and how their season could be full of excitement.

There was an upside-down-day component to the NBA's second night of regular season action.

The upstart Milwaukee Bucks, with new big man Greg Monroe, were crushed by the once-hapless Knicks, 122-97, with the help of a former No. 2 draft pick who most had left for dead, Derrick Williams. LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back from their season-opening loss to Chicago and beat the Memphis Grizzlies in a way unbecoming of the Western Conference contenders (106-76). Denver routed James Harden's Houston Rockets in Nuggets coach Michael Malone's debut (105-85).

But of all the story lines that no one saw coming, Lance Stephenson becoming a beloved member of the Los Angeles Clippers' starting five at the outset of this 2015-16 campaign may top the list. Yet there he was at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento in the Clippers' season-opening win against the Sacramento Kings, the embattled 24-year-old who had such a disastrous stop in Charlotte last season, finishing with a plus-11 rating in 19 minutes alongside Chris Paul, J.J. Redick, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan in the first unit.

It's early, but Stephenson - who was traded to the Clippers in June - is getting rave reviews from his new co-workers.

As Clippers coach and president of basketball operations Doc Rivers told USA TODAY Sports after the 111-104 win over the Kings, this wasn't the original plan going into the season. They saw him as a reserve, someone who would come in behind Wesley Johnson and Paul Pierce to play with Jamal Crawford and Austin Rivers on the wings. But that all changed after four preseason games, the last two of which – as fate would have it – were blowout losses to Stephenson's old team, the Hornets.

"It was a big move for us, because I honestly had no plans for us doing that," said Rivers, whose team downed Golden State and Portland in those final two preseason games with Stephenson starting. "But I was worried about the flow of the game, the way we we're subbing in and out. And I figured with Lance starting the game, you can then bring in Paul (Pierce), and you can then bring in Austin and Jamal."

"Now your small unit has more shooting and more firepower, with Austin and Jamal being the primary ballhandlers. With Lance in that group, you had three (primary ball handlers), and it was too many. Now Austin is playing well. Jamal is playing well, and Paul is playing well. But it's a great example of how you go into camp with one idea, and then you see the team play and it's a whole different thing."

While Stephenson is a high-risk personality, the Clippers are in a safe spot. For starters, the fact that they have a team option on his deal for next season ($9.4 million) means he has loads of incentive to make this work. What's more, the Clippers – in stark contrast to the Hornets – have just the kind of veteran-heavy roster that will likely help keep him focused. And the playmaking, scoring, defending Stephenson is still just one season removed from his All-Star caliber campaign with the Indiana Pacers.

Rivers, who did not know Stephenson previously, was the first to admit that the Clippers had to do more due diligence than normal. Whereas the normal background check would typically warrant approximately 20 phone calls to people who know the player well, Rivers and Clippers general manager Dave Wohl made 61 such inquiries during their research of Stephenson.

"I don't think we've ever made more (background) calls for a player in my life," Rivers said. "We had to make sure, but I've got to tell you that I'm really excited. It's one game (in the regular season), but I think he has a chance to be really disruptive to other teams. And what I love is he gives us another ball handler, and you can see that with the first group."

One of the short-list goals, of course, is to help him regain that shooting stroke that fell apart last season. Stephenson's field-goal percentage went from 49.1 two seasons ago to 37.6; his three-point percentage from 35.2 to 17.1.

"You can see it coming back," Rivers said. "And now his confidence is back with that little elbow jump shot. Last year he wouldn't even take it. Now he thinks he can make it again. That's good."

As the ever-demanding Paul sees it, Stephenson is striking all the right chords so far. These early days together have been a two-way street, too, with Paul making sure Stephenson knows that this is the kind of clean slate situation he so desperately needs.

"As soon as we made that acquisition, (Stephenson) actually (called) me and said, 'I'm like this, I ain't like what people say,'" Paul told USA TODAY Sports. "But I think for me, it was more about getting to know him myself. Think about it, in this league, there's going to be some people who like you and some people who don't. I bet if you go to some guys in this league, they're probably going to say certain things about me, you know what I mean? It's one of those things. You can only go from your own experiences."

Which have been all good thus far.

"Lance is good, man," Paul continued. "He's fun. He's got a big heart, a good spirit. I'm happy we got him."

The feeling, quite clearly, is mutual.

"The transition has been great for me," Stephenson told USA TODAY Sports. "All I have to do is be a lockdown defender, be a smart role player, and just make the shots that are open, that come to me. I don't have to do too much. We have a group of guys that already know how to play together. I've just got to be smart, and stick to my job."

While keeping his eyes facing forward.

"I had a tough year (in Charlotte), but that was just the past," he said. "It didn't go right for me, but I'm past that. It's a new year, and I'm on a team that is a championship contender. We've got it all. Everybody has been all about the team. We're all locked in. We're there. We've just got to put it all together."