He was supposed to provide the veterans' pre-practice doughnuts, a common chore among first-year players. And he flat forgot.

Fined an undisclosed amount by the team's kangaroo court, Hill says he's learned his lesson.

"I'm always on doughnut patrol," Hill said.

Hill can be forgiven for briefly forgetting his place. Spurs rookies don't often earn the role Hill has been filling of late.

For the second game in a row Tuesday, Hill played the entire fourth quarter of the Spurs' 100-86 victory over Charlotte at the AT&T Center. And for the second game in a row, the rookie was the fourth-quarter spark.

With the score tied and less than nine minutes to go, Hill and Bruce Bowen ambushed Charlotte's Raymond Felton at midcourt. Hill relieved Felton of the ball, and dashed in for a layup and an 82-80 Spurs lead.

That play seemed to be the straw that finally broke the pesky Bobcats, who to that point had not trailed by more than six. Hill's layup ignited a 13-2 run that put the Spurs ahead 93-82 with 3:59 to play.

"I think that was the turning point," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "After that, we made a couple of shots and the game turned our way."

Tony Parker and Roger Mason Jr. each had 21 points, with Mason hitting five 3-pointers, and Tim Duncan shrugged off a tough shooting night (7 of 18) for an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double.

The Bobcats, winners of six in a row and half a game out of a playoff berth when the day began, stood toe-to-toe with the Spurs for 44 minutes.

Emeka Okafor and Raja Bell each tallied 16 points to head a list of five Bobcats in double figures, as Charlotte played the Spurs to a tie at the half (41-41) and after three quarters (71-71).

It was not until in the fourth quarter that the Spurs, boosted by an uptick in defensive intensity, finally pulled away, outscoring Charlotte 29-15 in the frame. In the end, the Spurs held the Bobcats, who were averaging 103 points during their win streak, to considerably less than that.

"They really turned the heat up on us," Charlotte coach Larry Brown said. "They turned up the intensity defensively and made shots at the end of the game."

When push came to shove, it was the first-year guard from little IUPUI who put away the Bobcats. The only Spurs player to play all 12 minutes of the fourth quarter, Hill scored all nine of his points, grabbed two steals and, by alternately defending Felton and Bell, was key in limiting Charlotte to a 7-of-18 frame.

"He can be a burst of energy for us," Mason said of Hill, who has some of the youngest legs on the league's oldest team. "He's so athletic, so active."

It was the second game in a row Hill finished on the floor. He played all 12 minutes of the final frame in Sunday's 103-98 victory over Phoenix, and was just as active.

With each passing day, Hill appears to be playing his way into Popovich's playoff rotation at one of the backup guard spots.

"The last two games he's been on the floor at the end of the game," Popovich said. "So that will tell you what we're thinking."

A scoring guard in college, the 6-foot-2 Hill has benefited from a switch to his natural position. With Mason assuming backup point-guard duties behind Parker, Hill has been left to roam as a backup shooting guard.

"At point guard, I was thinking too much," Hill said. "With the 'two,' I get to run more freely around, get open looks and push the tempo up."

At times, running around at the two guard and finishing games, Hill has begun to feel a little bit like a college veteran again, and not an NBA rookie.

Occasionally, this can get him into trouble. It can cause him to forget the Krispy Kremes, a cardinal sin in NBA culture. Sometimes, he must be put back in his place.

"He's not a veteran yet," Mason said. "Until next year, he's still a rookie."

These days, however, it can be difficult to tell.