Is he simply just the tag-a-long little brother who annoys an older sibling purely for attention, or is it a calculated move meant to disrupt the king from his pedestal? Either way, the Indiana Pacers’ Lance Stephenson has made a name for himself over the last few days. But time will tell if his behavior is "buffoonery," as Miami Heat guard Ray Allen called it, or if he is indeed getting under the collective skin of the defending champs.

On Wednesday, the Pacers staved off elimination, barely, by escaping with a 93-90 victory over the Heat. Paul George was the consummate hero in the game, finishing with 37 points including two dagger-in-the-heart three point shots in crunch time and 21 total points in the fourth quarter alone.

"I felt in a rhythm, regardless of who was guarding me," George said. "I think I saw every defender from the Heat tonight. I was just in a zone. Regardless of who was guarding me, I felt like the ball was gonna go in that net. That's a great feeling."

It turned out that Indiana needed every last one of those points, as Miami's Chris Bosh missed a three point attempt with under five seconds remaining that would have given the Heat the lead. To be sure, as poorly as the Heat played, it still had a shot to win the whole thing.

So George leads his team to a season saving victory with a performance for the ages. And that is NOT even close to being one of the main headlines coming out of the Eastern Conference Finals. No, those stories are reserved for conspiracy theorists - and some good ol' fashioned elementary school hijinks.

First the conspiracy, if you will. LeBron James was whistled for three first half fouls and two more in the beginning stages of the third quarter that limited his playing time to just 13 minutes through the first three frames. James checked into the game in the fourth with only two points and almost no rhythm. The end result was a 2-of-10, 7-point stat line and dozens of cries of a game "fix" by the NBA.

Had Miami closed out the Pacers in 5 games, there would be no weekend basketball, the theorists say, and the league office would not like to see potential dollars left on the table. Oddly enough, much of this rhetoric is coming out of a certain location in the South speckled with palm trees and scantily clad beach goers.

But even those questionable speculations and selfish conjurings pale in comparison to the Blowgate phenomenon that has overtaken social media. Stephenson, who this week has been plastered in headlines for his trashtalk of James' trashtalk, took things a couple steps further in game 5 by first crashing a Heat sideline huddle and later blowing in King James' ear during a break in the action. The latter action of "buffoonery" set off a meme storm on the likes of Facebook and Twitter that has yet to blow over.

"I'm just here to play basketball, man. All the extracurricular activities, I don't really get into," James said. "I'm just trying to win. We need one more win to get to the Finals. That's my only concern. All the extra stuff, whatever Lance wants to do, I don't really care about that."

Stephenson, who told reporters that he was just “having fun,” has a different take on his actions towards James.

"I have a lot of respect for him," Stephenson said. "He's a great player. You've got to do whatever it takes to get under him and win the game because he's that good. So if I got to do all that stuff, I'm going to do that to win the game."

The stage is set. After James' subpar performance on Wednesday, is he set to explode in game six and clinch a fourth straight NBA Finals appearance, thus further cementing his place as the greatest basketball player in the world? Or has Stephenson, George, and Co. finally outgrown the little brother stigma, ready to take over the East?

Miami has what Indiana wants, and Paul George specifically is primed to take the leap from good player to superstar status. So here it is. Game 6 in Miami. And one of two scenarios will play out in South Beach tonight. Either Miami adds another entry to its dynasty, or Indiana takes another step in its ascent to the top of the Eastern Conference.

Buffoonery and hijinks aside, let those be the story lines tonight.