NBA 2014-15: Australian star Patty Mills in NBA injury comeback for San Antonio Spurs

AUSSIE NBA star Patty Mills exploded in the final quarter to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a come-from-behind win against the Houston Rockets.

San Antonio Spurs guard Patty Mills, right, of Australia, drives around Houston Rockets guard Jason Terry during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Dec. 28, 2014, in San Antonio. San Antonio won 110-106. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

AUSSIE NBA star Patty Mills exploded in the final quarter to lead the San Antonio Spurs to a come-from-behind win against the Houston Rockets.

Mills showed signs of rust in limited minutes in the first three quarters in his comeback game from off-season shoulder surgery, and failed to trouble the scorers.

But the point guard went ballistic in the final quarter in a performance that turned the game in the Spurs’ favour, scoring eight points and having a hand in a series of crucial plays that helped the team snap a two-game losing streak, 110-106.

San Antonio Spurs’ Aussie guard Patty Mills drives into the paint against Houston today.

Mills finally got on on the scoreboard early in fourth quarter with a sharp cut to the basket.

He chanced his arm shortly after on a pair of unsuccessful three-point attempts, but then grabbed a defensive rebound at the other end, drove the full length of the court and pulled up on a mid-range jumpshot to tie the scores at 91-91.

Patty Mills makes his season debut with a standing ovation from the crowd. #GoSpursGo #SASvsHOU

— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) December 29, 2014

Spurs undefeated with Patty Mills.

— John Schuhmann (@johnschuhmann) December 29, 2014

FINALLY: Patty Mills returns from shoulder surgery, sparks 4th-quarter rally as Spurs overcome Rockets. Did this so often last year.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) December 29, 2014

A minute later Mills cut hard to the basket and drew a foul before netting both free throws, and with just under four minutes left in the game he swooped on a loose ball and burned his Rockets pursuers for an easy layup.

He put an exclamation mark on his comeback when in the final two minutes he harrassed opponent James Harden with such tenacity that the Rockets star fumbled the ball and spilled it out of court.

From there the Spurs were able to soak up fouls and bury free throws to make sure of the win.

Mills had been pencilled in for a comeback next month, but with starting point guard Tony Parker in trouble with a hamstring injury the Spurs need some help in the back court.

Mills said he was pleased to be back on board to help his injury-hit team.

When you get ya mate back @Patty_Mills #GoSpursGo pic.twitter.com/InFOdDVZ8C

— Aron Baynes (@aronbaynes) December 29, 2014

Great to see my guy @Patty_Mills back on court!

— Joe Ingles (@Joeingles7) December 29, 2014

“(The hardest thing) was the grind that the guys were going through and coming into the locker room and knowing they were beat, knowing they were tired and there weren’t many subs to give them a break,” Mills told reporters today.

“That was the most disappointing thing for me. I just felt helpless. I couldn’t do anything. That’s what you feel like when you’re injured and watching your teammates. Tonight was a good night to know I had everyone’s back and to get out there and have that feeling again.

“The shoulder felt great. It’s fully repaired now. Lungs were great, legs felt great. It’s just getting a rhythm and getting used to being back out on the floor. Other than that everything else felt great, which I was quite surprised at.”

So what caused the injury?

“Too many bricks,” Mills quipped. “Every time I missed it tore a little bit more off. It tore more tonight.”

Matthew Dellavedova had a solid night for the Cavaliers.

HOW THE REST OF THE AUSSIES FARED

Aron Baynes had a big impact in more ways than one for the Spurs.

The Aussie was instrumental in keeping his team in the game in second half, scoring six of his eight points in the third quarter and snatching four rebounds. But he couldn’t keep his hands to himself, fouling out with his sixth foul in the first minute of the final quarter when he ploughed through Josh Smith off the ball.

Matthew Dellavedova was the first choice point guard for Cleveland in Kyrie Irving’s absence and did a serviceable job without being much of a scoring threat.

Dellavedova finished with three points, six assists and two turnovers in his 26 minutes on court, but was successful on just one of his five field goal attempts.

LeBron James had a shooting performance to forget against Detroit.

PISTONS 103 - CAVALIERS 80

LeBron James had a poor shooting performance and Kyrie Irving remained sidelined with a bruised knee as the Cleveland Cavaliers were routed 103-80 by visiting Detroit.

The Cavaliers, whose only loss in their previous five games was a Christmas defeat at Miami, fell to 18-12, three games behind Central division leader Chicago and fifth in the Eastern Conference while the struggling Pistons improved to 7-23.

Brandon Jennings scored a game-high 25 points to spark Detroit, which also had 16 points and 17 rebounds from Andre Drummond. The Pistons hit 17 of 31 three-point attempts to win their second game in a row but only their fourth in 21 games.

James hit only five of 19 shots from the field but still produced 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. Kevin Love added 20 points and 10 rebounds and Tristan Thompson had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Cavaliers.

Irving, averaging 20 points a game, missed his second game in a row. Aussie Matthew Dellavedova had three points and six assists in 26 minutes starting in place of Irving.

The Cavaliers are also recovering from last week’s loss of Brazilian big man Anderson Varejao, who suffered a torn Achilles tendon that will sideline him for the remainder of the season.

Manu Ginobili scored 15 points in San Antonio’s win over the Rockets.

SPURS 110 - ROCKETS 106

Danny Green had 24 points as the injury-depleted San Antonio Spurs held off a late rally to beat Houston 110-106, snapping a six-game skid against tthe Rockets.

Tim Duncan had 16 points and Manu Ginobili had 15 for San Antonio (19-13), which won for first time in three games.

James Harden had 28 points and Dwight Howard added 24 points and 17 rebounds for Houston (21-8). The Rockets’ newest additions had differing levels of success: Corey Brewer scored 25 points and Josh Smith added five points.

There were 20 lead changes and 13 ties in another physical and emotional battle between the longtime rivals.

Houston went four minutes without scoring between a pair of dunks by Howard - San Antonio went on a 15-0 run to open a 102-91 lead with just over four minutes remaining. The Rockets responded with a 12-4 spurt, capped by Harden’s three-pointer with Duncan in his chest that pulled Houston to 106-103 with 52.1 seconds remaining. After Green missed a three-pointer, Harden dribbled the ball out of bounds for his ninth turnover.

Green made four straight free throws in the final minute, helping San Antonio avoid going into overtime.

MAVERICKS 112 - THUNDER 107

Dirk Nowitzki scrambled to replace Tyson Chandler with the Dallas centre sidelined by back spasms, then he found himself with five fouls early in the fourth quarter.

When the big German returned to the game, he carried the Mavericks to a come-from-behind win.

Nowitzki matched his season high with 30 points, including 10 in the final 5 minutes, Chandler Parsons added 26 and the Mavericks beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-107 today.

“We had to adjust a little bit, I’d say, without Tyson, our warrior, our paint protector,” said Nowitzki, who put Dallas ahead for good with two free throws with 3:25 to play and made all 12 of his shots from the line.

“Not really used to playing in foul trouble, because I never really foul. So I tried to move my feet and be long out there.”

The Thunder played their sixth straight game without Kevin Durant because of a sprained right ankle. They fell short in their third chance to reach .500 for the first time after Durant and Russell Westbrook were sidelined by injuries for 14 of the first 16 games.

Serge Ibaka led Oklahoma City with a season-high 26 points, but was limited to just one shot and two points in the fourth quarter. Westbrook scored 18 but was 6 of 23 from the field. He missed a triple-double with nine rebounds and nine assists. He also had five steals.

Nowitzki made his first start at centre in almost five years, according to STATS, and the resulting match-up issues made the 1000th career game on the bench for Dallas coach Rick Carlisle a challenging one.

TRAIL BLAZERS 101 - KNICKS 79

Wesley Matthews had 28 points, including six 3-pointers, and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the short-handed New York Knicks 101-79 today.

Matthews, who leads the NBA with 106 3-pointers this season, made five threes in the first half against the Knicks. Teammate Nicolas Batum had five 3-pointers and 17 points.

It was the eighth straight loss for the Knicks, who had just nine available players to start the game, and then lost Carmelo Anthony for the second half because of a sore left knee.

Portland, which led by as many as 27 points, has won eight of its last nine games.

Cole Aldrich had 12 points and a career-high 19 rebounds for New York, and Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 17 points.

The Blazers were without All-Star LaMarcus Aldridge, who has missed three of the last four games with an upper respiratory illness, including the Blazers’ 114-93 victory over Philadelphia on Friday.

The Knicks were without J.R. Smith, who is having ongoing issues with his left heel. Samuel Dalembert was sidelined by a sprained right ankle, and Amare Stoudemire missed the game with a sore right knee.

To make matters worse, Anthony, who had been nursing a sore left knee, did not return for the second half. Anthony had 36 points in a 135-129 overtime loss at Sacramento on Saturday night.

The high-scoring forward had 13 points in the first half, but grimaced at times in pain.

RAPTORS 116 - NUGGETS 102

Kyle Lowry had 30 points and 11 assists, and the Toronto Raptors ended a decade of frustration in Denver with a 116-102 win over the Nuggets today.

Lou Williams had 31 points for the Raptors, who won at Pepsi Center for the first time since the 2003-04 season.

Toronto, the top team in the Eastern Conference, had lost 11 of its last 14 against the Nuggets but got the season sweep with today’s win.

The Raptors have won seven of eight.

Ty Lawson led Denver with 28 points and Wilson Chandler had 20 points and 10 rebounds.

Kenneth Faried, who had 26 points and a career-best 25 rebounds in Friday’s win over Minnesota, had 17 points and 19 rebounds for the Nuggets, who have lost three of four.

Originally published as NBA 2014-15: Australian star Patty Mills in NBA injury comeback for San Antonio Spurs