Cleveland Cavaliers point guard George Hill has been ruled out of Wednesday night’s Game 5 matchup against the Indiana Pacers, according to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com. With the series tied at two games apiece, there is no doubt that both teams will be looking for a solid outing.
Hill, now 31 years of age, has been dealing with back soreness since Game 1 of this series, when he backed into an illegal screen. The savvy veteran was held out of Game 4 for precautionary measures. According to Joe Vardon of Cleveland.com, Hill received four shots prior to that game in an attempt to play.
In his 24 appearances with the Cavs during their regular season campaign, Hill racked up averages of 9.4 points on 44.4 percent shooting from the field (35.1 percent from beyond the arc), 2.8 assists, 2.7 rebounds and just under one steal (0.9) in 27.9 minutes per.
As he did in Game 4, Cavs head coach Tyronn Lue has elected to give Jose Calderon a starting nod at point guard in Hill’s absence. Calderon logged 19 minutes in Sunday’s 104-100 win, scoring five points on 2-4 shooting form the field (1-2 from downtown), two assists and two rebounds. Jordan Clarkson, J.R. Smith and even Cedi Osman could see their minutes increase as well.
Wednesday night’s game is set to tip inside Quicken Loans Arena at 7:00 p.m. EST with TNT, FOX Sports Ohio and FOX Sports Indiana having live broadcast coverage.