If Lance Stephenson's comments are any indication, the Indiana Pacers plan to see just how healthy Heat star Dwyane Wade is when the teams kick off their Eastern Conference finals series Sunday.
According to the Pacers guard, one way to do that is to make Wade's oft-ailing knee "flare up."
"I think his knee is messed up, so I've got to be extra aggressive," Stephenson said, according to The Palm Beach Post.
He said he plans to "make [Wade] run" and "make his knee flare up or something."
"I'll do anything as much as possible," Stephenson said.
Wade said Sunday he wasn't concerned with Stephenson's comments.
"I don't respond. The talk should be about basketball and the game," Wade said. "I don't talk back and forth in the media. I don't have any response."
"We're 8-1 [in the playoffs] and I've been in every game so far so (the knee) hasn't been an issue," Wade continued. "It's not a concern of my, it's not what I'm focused on. I'm focused on the game plan."
Wade has battled knee problems throughout his career, including during last season's Finals. He missed 28 games this season with various injuries, including a hamstring strain in March.
Wade and Stephenson have engaged in some lively exchanges in recent months. Both players drew technical fouls after a brief scuffle during a March 26 game, and Stephenson subsequently was ejected after receiving another technical for taunting Wade later in the game.
Of that interaction, Wade said Friday, "You gotta ask him ... I just smiled."
Stephenson said the tension with Wade and the Heat isn't personal.
"It's just basketball," Stephenson said. "If I see D. Wade walking in the street, I won't try to get him. It's just basketball and just playing hard against each other. We both have a goal ... I don't got no problems with them, but on the court there's no friends."
