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Hill Driving Pacers' Hopes for a Turnaround

Asked to name a couple of areas in which the Pacers need to improve to reverse their downhill path, George Hill didn't hesitate.

“Offense and defense,” he said.

There was a touch of subtle humor to his answer, but some blatant truth, too. The Pacers aren't playing well enough at either end of the court to beat good teams like Toronto, a team they didn't beat on Tuesday, 104-91. Forget the shadings of basketball, they are in search of the broad brush strokes of scoring and defending.

The loss to the Raptors was the Pacers' eighth in the last nine games, and being the first of a five-game homestand that offers their best hope for a turnaround, it stung a little more than usual. These are urgent times, without question. They are now 16-31, four games back of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference standings. They also are 8-12 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, and in danger of having their first losing homecourt record in 25 years, the longest streak in the NBA.

“The good thing is, it can only get better,” Hill said. “I don't think it can get any worse from here. We're already at the bottom.”

Not really, but it no doubt feels that way for Hill, who has never played on a losing team – or even come close to it – in his six previous NBA seasons. The good news is that 19 of the Pacers' next 24 games are at home. But they were at home against the Raptors, and that wasn't enough to beat the team tied for the second-best record in the conference. There's more to it than venue.

Toronto, simply put, is better than the Pacers when the Pacers don't have Paul George, who is likely out for the season with his infamous broken leg, don't have C.J. Miles, who is out indefinitely with a groin strain and have a limited version of Hill, who has missed 39 games with knee and groin issues. The truer test for the Pacers will be when they play other losing teams or the barely-winning teams, and there are enough of those left on the schedule to allow them back into the playoff chase.

Getting there will require … well, offense and defense.

They have willing passers, but not skilled ones, which leads to turnovers, forced shots and not enough trips to the foul line. They lack the kind of perimeter shooting – just 32.5 percent from the three-point line – that could make up for some of their other weaknesses. They also lack chemistry, and deservedly so. The combination of new faces and injuries guarantees that.

“I sensed some hesitancy tonight,” coach Frank Vogel said. “I thought our guys passed up some shots at times. I challenged our guys in timeouts to stop passing up shots. I think we are fighting through some hesitancy on the offensive end. We have to battle through that.”

Defensively, without George, a first-team all-defense selection last season, and with a limited Hill, the best perimeter defender currently available, they lack the quickness to stay in front of opposing guards and small forwards, which leads to rim protector Roy Hibbert getting into foul trouble. Their defense is slipping, too. They allowed 95.3 points in October and November, 97.4 in December and 99.5 so far this month.

Fact is, the Pacers' fate for this season rests most heavily on Hill. He was maligned by many fans last season for not being a “true point guard,” but that was a shortsighted analysis that didn't take into account his limited role in an offense built around George and Lance Stephenson. The team's struggles this season when he hasn't played, and the obvious difference when he has, have altered perceptions – or should have. He's never looked better, even when he isn't playing.

The plus-minus numbers offer proof. Hill had a +14 rating (meaning the Pacers outscored the opponent by 14 points while he was in the game) in the two-point loss at Miami on Saturday, a game in which none of the starters had a positive rating. He had a +6 rating in Sunday's win at Orlando, and was a +7 against the Raptors. Only two starters, David West and Rodney Stuckey finished in the plus column, and the starting point guard, C.J. Watson was a -22.

It's nearly impossible to imagine the Pacers finding a way into the playoffs without getting starter's minutes from Hill. They get along well enough, they have talent and they don't seem to have given up, but right now they look like a glob of good players in search of an identity.

Hill is the Pacers player best-suited to provide one.

“I'm going to give it everything I've got on both ends of the floor,” he said. “Whatever happens, happens. If it happens I have to sit down longer, it happens I have to sit down. But you'll know I gave everything. That's the only way to go out there.”

He just has to be able to get out there. For more than 20 minutes per game.

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