Aussies in NBA: Mills came up big in clutch against Mavs

An impressive second half from Patty Mills helped lead San Antonio to a 96-91 win over the depleted Mavericks.

Bogut (calf), Deron Williams (calf), and Nowitzki (achilles) were all missing for Dallas, while San Antonio decided to rest Tony Parker and LaMarcus Aldridge.

Mills finished the game with 17 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals (boxscore). He came off the bench for rookie Dejounte Murray, however ended up playing 16 more minutes than the former Washington Husky.

The Aussie had a relatively average start to the game, scoring 6 points in the first half. The rest of Mills' team was also slow out of the blocks, and to the surprise of many, they trailed by 1 point at half time.

After the main break Patty managed to find his groove, scoring 11 0f his 17 points in the second half.

https://twitter.com/SpursPA/status/801134230902337536

His play of the night came at the end of a wonderfully executed fast break. David Lee flicked the ball to Mills after Manu Ginobili and the Australian managed to poke the ball loose on defence. Patty then had a one-two with Kawhi Leonard, before finishing it with an acrobatic up and under reverse layup.

https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/800906405611966464

From then the Spurs managed to hold onto the win. Coach Popovich had Mills finish the game at the point guard position. However, post-game the legendary coach was not overly thrilled with his team's efforts.

"It was a pathetic performance on the part of the Spurs... I thought we showed a lack of humility, a lack of respect for the opponent. A very pathetic performance at both ends of the court." he said in disappointment.

When asked about this reaction, Mills managed to lighten the mood.

"He's like that all the time." he said with a grin.

After a blistering start to the season the Australian will look to continue his run of form. Not only will it help the Spurs bid for a championship, but will likely help him get a pay raise when he becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Patty Mills' full post-match interview can be seen here.

Full Highlights https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5VKrAgQ-Yg