He hasn't played a second in 23 games this season. He's played less than two minutes in seven games. Just last week, he played just 2 minutes, 17 seconds against Orlando.
But Wednesday, in perhaps the Pacers' biggest game of the season, and in many ways their best, Solomon Hill played a season-high 31 minutes, 14 seconds and restated his case for playing time. Lots and lots of playing time.
Of all the contributors to the Pacers' 123-109 victory over Cleveland at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Hill was perhaps the most influential. He didn't lead them in any single statistical category other than steals (3), but turned in the most versatile performance. He not only came off the bench to hit three-of-four 3-pointers and score a season-high 15 points, he shut off the spigot of points flowing out of Cavs forward Kevin Love.
"When he's knocking down threes and guarding the way he guards, we're pretty good," said coach Frank Vogel after the Pacers won their third straight game and maintained a half-game lead over Detroit for seventh place in the Eastern Conference.
Now what does Vogel do? He's started Lavoy Allen in place of rookie Myles Turner the past three games and been rewarded with crucial victories in each one, but not because Allen has been particularly potent. Do you change the starting lineup and insert Hill with four games remaining in the regular season and see what happens, or do you keep him as a versatile handyman, plugging him in whenever and wherever leaks need to be stopped?
Vogel acknowledges he hasn't ruled out starting him.
"We'll think about it," Vogel said. "I've actually thought about it a lot. We'll see. We'll kind of go game-by-game.
"Everything's an option at this point."
Hill's favored option is to do whatever is asked of him. He, like Vogel, is intrigued by playing more with a second unit consisting of C.J. Miles (who finished with 21 points while hitting 6-of-8 3-pointers), Ty Lawson, Rodney Stuckey and Turner. That group is capable of playing fast and scoring often, but hasn't had enough time to establish cohesion. Lawson, who holds the key to that ignition, missed Wednesday's game with an upper respiratory infection.
Then again, how can you look at what Hill has so obviously done for the Pacers lately and not wonder what would happen if he became a full-time starter?
With LeBron James sitting this one out to rest, Love took on the Cavs' scoring burden in the first quarter with 14 points. It was easy, really. He and Kyrie Irving ran pick-and-pops outside the 3-point line, and because of Irving's quickness and penetrating ability, Allen was forced to stay with him longer after coming off the screen before George Hill could catch up to resume his defense. That left time for Love to float to the wing and take a pass for an open 3-pointer.
Love hit an 18-footer on the Cavs' second possession. He hit a 19-footer on the third one. He hit a 3-pointer on the fifth. He added a 3-pointer with 6:38 left, which, combined with his four free throws off fouls from Ian Mahinmi and Turner, gave him 14 of the Cavs' first 18 points. All of his field goals came off feeds from Irving.
"He's such a unique matchup, you have to have somebody with the speed to close out on him at the 3-point line while blitzing Kyrie Irving or LeBron," Vogel said.
That somebody was Hill, who replaced Allen to take over the task of defending Love. Hill started the second half in place of Allen, and shut down Love the rest of the way, although Love, who finished with 23 points, played just 5 minutes, 48 seconds in the second half after suffering a minor leg injury in the third quarter. He returned briefly in the fourth, but went back to the bench after the Pacers locked up the victory.
He managed just two free throws against Hill's defense, and missed all four field goal attempts when Hill guarded him.
"Just tried to get under him," Hill said. "If I could get under him, I knew he wasn't going to beat me in a straight line. I wasn't going to let him take me off the dribble. It was about making him feel uncomfortable and not letting him get an open look regardless of whether I'm there or not.
"My first possession on him, he had a little bit of space, but he hesitated and I kind of knew from there it was going to work in my favor if I could keep getting close to him."
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Hill's most dramatic defensive play came in the third quarter, when he ran from behind and spiked Love's transition layup attempt off the backboard. He then sprinted downcourt and converted a layup of his own, giving the Pacers a 79-70 lead and forcing a timeout.
The most surprising part of Hill's game was his perimeter marksmanship. He had hit 22 percent of his 3-point shots entering the game, and just 1-of-11 dating back to March 12. Somehow, he managed to hit his first three attempts in this one, all in the first half.
"No hesitation," he said. "I think I work too hard and the coaching staff prepares me too well to have any hesitation."
Just like that, his season 3-point percentage jumped from .224 to .269.
The Pacers went on to take an 18-point lead later in the third period, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. They had done the same thing in their weekend victories in Philadelphia and New York, only to give back those leads and have to scramble from behind.
They threatened to do the same this time, allowing the Cavs within 12 points midway through the fourth quarter. Paul George, however, made consecutive plays that removed all mystery from the game.
He cut to the basket and took a pass from George Hill for a left-handed layup that drew a foul with 5:47 left, converting the three-point play. He dropped a 3-pointer on the following possession, opening an 18-point lead that inspired Cavs coach Tyronn Lue to call timeout with 5:08 remaining and clear his bench.
George finished with 29 points, his seventh consecutive game of 20 or more.
"We kept our foot on the gas," he said.
"We had a moment where the game could have swung. We got real stagnant, our offense got slow, we were walking the ball up the court, and that's kind of been the (reason) teams come back. We start playing slower. For a moment we were like that but we were able to switch it. I just saw an opportunity to stay aggressive. I didn't want any chance of a team making a comeback so I tried to keep my foot on the pedal and make some dagger shots."
Vogel breathed a sigh of relief, as did just about every fan in the Fieldhouse, over his team's ability to maintain its lead.
"I mentioned that to the refs, what we had done the last two games," Vogel said. "Our guys were well aware. The game's never over. You're going to get up on teams, and teams are going to keep fighting and not quit. So you have to play 48 minutes, it's that simple."
Solomon Hill will settle for about 30 of them.
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