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Via the Express-News:

If there was still doubt about whether Hill belonged in the NBA — and there wasn’t — his performance Monday answered it. Thrust into the starting lineup with Richard Jefferson ailing, Hill scored 16 points in the Spurs’ 97-90 victory over the Hornets, a number secondary to the unquantifiable damage he wreaked defending Paul.

I found George Hill’s defense of Paul to be one of yesterday’s most intriguing elements. Ever since game 3 of the 2008 Western Conference Semifinals the Spurs have taken a distinct but effective approach to Chris Paul. They’ve operated on the assumption that Paul is more dangerous when he has 10 points and 20 assists than when he scores 20 and dishes a dozen dimes. So they’ve directed more energy towards denying Paul’s passes than his shot. That’s why, after getting easily handled in the first two games of the WCSF, we moved Bowen onto Stojakovic and Parker onto Paul. After that defensive adjustment, we went on to win 4 of the series’ final 5 games.

Yesterday Popovich split the difference: He had Hill, arguably our best perimeter defender, cover Paul, but still focused on limiting Paul’s distribution rather than his scoring. What did the Spurs end up with? A digestible 18-9 game from Paul, and a (mostly) comfortable win on a rival’s home floor.