George Hill returning to his starting role

For the first time this season, the Pacers will start a game with the starters head coach Frank Vogel expected last fall.

It only took 50 games.

George Hill practiced the past two days with the starters and will be back with the core group beginning tonight against the Detroit Pistons. Hill, who’s played in only 10 games this season due to a number of injuries — the latest being a groin strain —, will make just his fourth start of the season.

George Hill back in the starting lineup.

“Injuries are apart of our game and we have to deal with them,” Larry Bird, the Pacers President of Basketball Operations, said on Tuesday. “Having George back out there is going to make a difference for us. We have an opportunity to win some games, and we should now.

For the past five games, Hill was kept to about 20 minutes per game of the bench. They are allowing him two more minutes per quarter, so about 28 minutes (in seven-minute bursts) each game.

“I’d love to play him 40 minutes, the way he’s playing,” Vogel said of his starting point guard. “He’s really really effective on both ends of the court for us, but we’re still going to be smart with him.

“He’s a dynamic basketball player. We got guys coming in our building every night with two or three dynamic basketball players. To have somebody that can impact the game on both ends of the court is something that we’ve missed this year.”

Hill is not yet at 100 percent. After a hard finish at the rim on Saturday, he grimaced a bit and played through some pain. The All-Star break, which begins at the end of next week, should be a good period for not only Hill, but many of the Pacers, to heal many of their bumps and bruises.

“I’m taking it one day at a time,” Hill said.

The Pacers (17-32) have had more players miss games due to injuries this season than any other team. The tally is at 165 entering Wednesday’s game, and they’ll start the 11th different combination.

Coach Vogel is still seeking more consistency from his guys. Though he did not want to get into specifics, Vogel wants to see numerous things change — likely not passing up so many open shots on the offense end, their defensive intensity, and how tied together they play — in hopes that it will lead to more victories.

No. 1 key: how they start games.

“I think we’re getting off to poor starts on a regular basis,” he said.

The Detroit Pistons (19-30) are two spots above the Pacers in the conference standings, but they recently lost guard Brandon Jennings for the season. He ruptured his left Achilles on Jan. 24 against Milwaukee. That’s one big change from the teams’ first two meetings — both wins by the Pistons (by 10 and two points).

“He scored a lot of points against us last game so they are very different [without him],” Vogel said of Jennings. “They are in a situation where the point guard is going to have a lot of opportunities with a lot of space to go to work. D.J. Augustin has taken advantage of that. They just picked up John Lucas, who is a proven scorer in this league and is going to have space to create.”

Yes, that’s the former Pacer. Augustin guided the Pistons to a win last night against Miami, scoring 25 points, and over the last five games he has averaged almost 22 points per game.

At tonight’s game, the Pacers will be sporting the franchise’s old 90s jerseys, the Flo-Jos.