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George Hill has made Cleveland Cavaliers' offense whole once again
Updated 3:59 AM; Posted 3:45 AM
By Chris Fedor, cleveland.com cfedor@cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- With a heating pad around his lower back -- one of the five he rotated throughout the course of the game -- and his posture proper so to not aggravate the injury any further, Cleveland Cavaliers point guard George Hill sat on the bench and watched his team fight with the gritty Indiana Pacers for three straight games in Round One.
Frustrated he couldn't be out there, Hill made the most of his time on the sidelines. He diligently observed, scouting the opponent like a coach while also looking for ways he could help if his sore back finally allowed him to play.
A few things stood out. He felt he could bring some aggressiveness from one of the backcourt spots. More than just a catch-and-shoot threat, Hill has been known as a crafty pick-and-roll player for much of his career, providing a much different dimension than JR Smith, Kyle Korver or stand-in Jose Calderon.
Hill, a 32-year-old veteran who has been lauded for his high basketball IQ, also believed his ability to handle the ball in the face of pressure would lift some of the burden from James.
That secondary playmaker was certainly missed early, allowing Indiana to make Cleveland uncomfortable on the offensive end, a strange development for a team built to outscore teams and outshoot defensive mistakes.
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But finally, with the help of an epidural and around-the-clock treatment, Hill returned in the second half of Game 7 against the Pacers, showing a glimpse of his importance to the Cavaliers' championship hopes. That was reaffirmed during the Eastern Conference semifinals, as Hill played a vital role in the four-game sweep against the top-seeded Toronto Raptors.
Against the league's fifth-ranked defense, the Cavs averaged 118.5 points on 51.6 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from 3-point range. Their offensive rating: 121.5. Only once during the four-game sweep were the Cavs held below 50 points in a half. Against Indiana, a much tougher matchup from both a personnel and style standpoint, the Cavs failed to crack the 50-point mark in a half nine times.
"I think G-Hill is a big part of what we're doing and what we do," head coach Tyronn Lue said following Monday's 128-93 win. "When he got hurt in the Indiana series, it really hurt us. When he's on the floor, then LeBron doesn't have to over-handle. With G-Hill out there, when he's feeling 100 percent, that really helps us out offensively. That allows JR (Smith) and Kyle (Korver) to get to their spots and knock down open shots."
Hill gave the Cavs another ball handler, an outlet to combat the full-court pressure Toronto used against James, mimicking Indiana's strategy to wear him down.
Hill also provided a bit of a scoring punch, especially early in Game 4 to help set the tone.
He made two dunks and a layup in the first four minutes, attacking the basket with ferocity and showing no ill effects of that back injury that sidelined him for games 4-6 in Round One. He finished with 12 points, as each member of the starting lineup reached double figures.
"I think the first series I was thinking a lot," Hill admitted. "Even in the beginning of the year when I got here I was thinking a lot, trying to be perfect, trying to make the right play rather than being aggressive. I've continued to watch film, work it out with the coaches and find myself."
Hill averaged 10.3 points and had a 3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio in the series. With him on the floor against Toronto, which constantly changed its rotation in search of the right counters, the Cavs were plus-50.
During this playoff run, Hill, not James, has the best plus/minus on the team. And Hill has also become an integral part of the new quintet Lue has adopted as his trusted starting lineup.
The combination of Hill, James, Smith, Korver and Love has now played 110 minutes, the most by far of any combination during the postseason. The fivesome boats an otherworldly offensive rating of 125.5 and a respectable 108.0 rating on defense. In all, the Cavs have outscored opponents by 41 points with those playoff-tested veterans on the floor together.
"I just play the game," Hill said. "I play the game the right way. Take it for what it is, have fun out there, play defense and when the opportunity is there to make a play, just make a play."
On non-game days, Hill has been studying film alongside Love, who also endured plenty of discouragement in the first-round matchup against Indiana -- although for a number of different reasons. But Love started showing signs of snapping out of it in the fourth quarter against the Pacers -- not surprisingly when he shared the court with Hill.
It was then Hill first took it upon himself to create easy baskets for Love, who was forced to work incredibly hard against Thaddeus Young, a player one member of the organization referred to as "Draymond Green of the East."
Then when Love's first-round struggles seemed to carry over into Game 1 against Toronto, the two watched film again. Those sessions paid dividends.
The team started running "Elbow Strong" and "Elbow Big," a pair of sets involving Hill and Love that were incredibly effective during the regular season. Hill believes that helped free up Love to get back into his comfort zone, no longer just relying on easier-to-defend post-ups or an abundance of outside shots on drive-and-kicks.
Hill's presence also allowed the Cavs to get back to their trusty 1-5 pick and roll. In the Pacers series, James had the ball in his hands on a majority of the possessions, and Indiana's defense made it tough with Love setting a screen.
As either Bojan Bogdanovic, Thaddeus Young, Myles Turner or Lance Stephenson was guarding James, the defender would fight through the screen or even switch those actions, believing Love wouldn't have an obvious mismatch because of the like-sized players that defend the two players.
The Cavs quickly realized that wasn't the case against Toronto.
When Love set the screen for Hill, knowing the Raptors wanted to keep switching, Love benefitted from advantageous matchups against a smaller defender.
In Game 2, Love received 11 post-up opportunities, scoring 20 points on those touches. He scored 23 points in the clincher Monday night, with six of his eight baskets coming inside the 3-point arc.
In all, Love averaged 20.5 points, even better than his season scoring mark.
"That was something that I missed, especially in the first series when George was out with his back," Love said. "Just having him back healthy has been very positive for me. A lot of time with the 1-5 pick and roll in this series, (Dwane) Casey had them switching and whether they double-teamed or whether they stayed put I was able to go to work.
"It was the same thing with Kyle, too, I mentioned after the last game, he was able to get a lot of the balls inside and we were able to work our weak-side action and Bron was finding us, George was finding us and it worked well. It's good to have him."
Suddenly, Cleveland's offense is whole again. And the reigning East kings are brimming with confidence, four wins away from another Finals trip.
"We talk about through the whole course of this long season just getting better, getting better," Lue said. "Hitting our stride when the playoffs start. And the guys, we're getting a lot of different contributions from a lot of guys. We got a lot of guys playing well, good team effort."
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