Pacers' Evan Turner, Lance Stephenson deny throwing punches at practice

Earlier on Wednesday, Yahoo Sports reported that Pacers guards Lance Stephenson and Evan Turner had to be separated following a "fistfight" which occurred during practice last Friday.

The two, along with some other Pacers, attempted to clear the air on Wednesday. This from Stephenson via Sports Illustrated. 

“[Turner is] a good guy, I have no problem with him. We’re competitive players, we got into a little scuffle, but it was just practice-related. No blows. Just playing hard, getting really for the playoffs. … There’s no hard feelings with us. We’re good as a unit and we’re good in the locker room.”

Turner toed the same line.

“Nothing really happened. Just got tangled up in practice. That was really it. There was no fists thrown or anything. Lance and I are both 6-foot-6, 230 [pounds]. I think there would be some type of mark if there were punches thrown. Nothing really happened. … I think some people in certain senses try to make something out of nothing. … I don’t want people running around thinking I did something crazy, or Lance did something crazy, because it wasn’t along those lines.”

Forward David West thinks the situation has been blown out of proportion.

"There were no punches thrown,” West said. “It was nothing really from our perspective. Stuff like that has happened a bunch throughout the year. It’s no big deal for us, we go through all that all the time.”

The Pacers were 42-13 prior to Turner's arrival in Indiana. Since then, the team has gone 14-15.

The two players are also set to hit the free agent market in the summer, and with both players expected to fill the same, or at least similar roles, in Indiana or elsewhere, there is no denying the two are in direct competition, even if they are both wearing Pacers colors at the moment.