NBA Calling as Mills buzzer-beater lifts Stampede
Mills, who stands just six feet tall in the old scale, corralled an offensive rebound after a Stampede miss and converted the basket with one second remaining.
Prior to today's clutch play, Mills exploded with a trio of three-pointers and a lay-up in the final period of his second game back from injury before propelling the Portland Trailblazers’ feeder team to victory in the final second.
He finished with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting including 4-of-5 three-pointers with 3 assists, 2 rebounds and four turnovers in 32 minutes on court.
The Canberra native was drafted by the Portland Trailblazers in June but missed five months of action after breaking a bone in his foot in July.
He made a stunning return from injury on Saturday, registering a whopping 38 points with 12 assists in his professional debut in a 123-109 over the Reno Bighorns.
Over two games in the D-League, Mills is averaging 30 points with 7.5 assists while shooting a sizzling eleven three-pointers from 15 attempts.
Trailblazers management hoped Mills would get valuable game time in the D-League and a gradual return to match fitness, but Mills call-up to the main event may come sooner than expected.
Portland has been beset by a horror run of injuries and player unavailability this season, with point guard Steve Blake the latest casualty.
Blake was hospitalized on Saturday with pneumonia and is expected to be out for at least a week, meaning the Trailblazers may have to run a skeletal roster of just eight players in back-to-back games against the Los Angeles Clippers (Tuesday) and the Memphis Grizzlies (Wednesday) and again on Saturday against Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers.
Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard said the Blazers were leaning toward elevating Mills for this week’s games to lift the roster to nine players and head coach Nate McMillan did nothing to douse the rumour.
“We want to look to get him back,” McMillan said after eyeing Mills’ outstanding D-League debut.
Portland, winners of eight games from its last 10 matches despite the injury plague, is currently in fourth place on the Western Conference ladder behind the Los Angeles Lakers, Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets.
Article by Basketball Australia
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