NBA

Pacers guard Hill ‘day to day’ with Game 6 on Saturday

Closing out the Knicks got harder for the Pacers. A lot harder. They had three shots. Now they have two. And they don’t know when — or if — they will have point guard George Hill.

Hill was a late scratch last night when tests revealed he suffered a concussion from an in-game collision with Tyson Chandler in Game 4 Tuesday when he torched the Knicks for 26 points. Without Hill, the Pacers struggled offensively and suffered a turnover-filled opportunity-blown, 85-75 defeat.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with it,” said Pacers coach Frank Vogel. “I think we’ve got plenty to beat the Knicks, with or without George Hill and the guys in uniform got to play better.”

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The Pacers started D.J. Augustin in his first career playoff start and suffered the domino effect — they missed Hill’s direction and big shot capability, and they missed Augustin off the bench. Augustin scored 12 points but did not have an assist.

Vogel said he has no idea if he will have Hill for Game 6 tomorrow.

“He’s day to day,” said Vogel, who said he learned about the situation after Hill was tested yesterday following complaints for concussion symptoms. “I don’t know if I can elaborate past that. He has to pass the NBA protocol for concussion tests.”

“George has to get better first,” center Roy Hibbert said. “Whenever he’s ready to go … until then it’s the next man up mentality.”

The Pacers had Paul George and Lance Stephenson bring the ball up the court when Augustin was off the floor, and the Knicks attacked. Stephenson, from Brooklyn’s Lincoln High, twice hit the floor hard in the first half, the second time he stayed down in obvious pain and the Garden crowd cheered.

“Eventually Paul George had to start bringing up the ball, which is pretty much what we wanted,” J.R. Smith said.