sport

Stephenson on Wednesday was vaguely conciliatory, saying he should have kept the talk between James and him on the court instead of prodding him through the news media. Vogel, the Pacers’ coach, said he spoke “at length” with Stephenson about his behavior, but he said he preferred to keep the content of the talk private.

“We’ve just got to play basketball,” said Stephenson, who hours later went on to yap at Wade and the referees, poke his head into multiple Heat huddles and blow air into James’s ear during a stoppage of play.