AUS - High-scoring Mills causing a stir in Spurs land

OAKLAND (NBA/Olympics) - The San Antonio Spurs have been on a roll this season, and much of that is not surprisingly because of the play of their international stars.

Former USA Olympian Tim Duncan is still a prominent player in the squad, while France's Tony Parker and Argentina's Manu Ginobili have been enjoying some of the best games of their careers.

Now the Spurs have another player from overseas who, like Ginobili and Parker, will be at the London Games.

Patty Mills of Australia, given an opportunity to start at point guard in the team's last two regular season games, made the most of the opportunity.

On Wednesday night, Mills played 35 minutes and drilled three shots from long range en route to a career-high 27 points as the Spurs won 110-106 at Phoenix.

On Thursday at Golden State, he did even better, playing 43 minutes and pouring in 35 points while also handing out 12 assists.

Mills buried four three-balls against the Warriors.

“These chances don’t come up very often, when you send your three big dogs back to San Antonio,” Mills said.

With first place in the Western Conference already secure, Duncan, Ginobili and Parker were given a couple of nights off.

Mills also had the additional incentive to put up big numbers against Golden State because as a collegian, he played for nearby St Mary's.

“I was very pumped to have this opportunity,” he said.

Mills, who joined the club at the end of March, is now averaging 10.3 points in 16.3 minutes per game.

He is likely to spend most of his time on the bench during the post-season but Mills has left no doubt that he could be an integral part of San Antonio’s future.

The victories were numbers 49 and 50 on the season, and the Spurs enter the Western Conference play-offs as the top seed.

Their opponents in the first round will be the Utah Jazz.

FIBA