Ex-St. Mary’s guard Patty Mills steps in and takes charge
Nearly 10 years ago, when the unassuming kid from Australia arrived in Moraga to play college basketball at St. Mary’s, he caused barely a ripple on the Bay Area sports scene.
Sunday afternoon, when Patty Mills walks onto the court at Oracle Arena for Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, he will have the attention of the Warriors and their fans.
Tony Parker will not play in this series, felled by a ruptured tendon in his left quadriceps, but San Antonio seems well equipped to weather Parker’s absence.
[...] he returns to the East Bay, as a key cog for the team standing between the Warriors and a third consecutive NBA Finals appearance.
“He can shoot from (long) range,” Warriors acting head coach Mike Brown said of Mills.
Mills averaged 9.5 points and made a career-high 147 threes, shooting 41.3 percent beyond the arc.
Mills figures to draw the defensive assignment on Curry most of the time; or he will face a 7-inch height disadvantage against Klay Thompson.
Mills brings the added bonus of stretching the floor with his three-point shooting.