The San Antonio Spurs' bid to win back-to-back NBA championships was extinguished with a desperate, last-second floater from Los Angeles Clippers point guard Chris Paul.
The Spurs' locker room deep inside LA's Staple Center stadium was deathly quiet on Saturday, with Australians Patty Mills and Aron Baynes and their teammates coming to terms with the 111-109 loss and going down 4-3 in the series.
"They were the better team in the end and that's that," a dejected Mills, who had six points from two three-pointers, said.
Mills was on the court for 15 minutes, giving the Spurs' veteran point guard Tony Parker, hampered by an Achilles injury, a rest.
Baynes did not enter the game.
It could also be the last time Baynes plays in a silver and black Spurs' singlet with the Queensland big man's one-year, $US2.1 million contract, up.
"I haven't even thought about it," Baynes, when asked about his future, said.
It was an epic, hard-fought playoff series.
The teams went basket-for-basket in the final quarter, with 31 lead changes and 16 ties throughout the game.
The pressure was on All-Star Paul, who had a hamstring injury, and Blake Griffin to get past the Spurs and make a championship run and both players stepped up.
Griffin had 24 points and 13 rebounds while Paul had 27 points, including five three-pointers.
With just a second remaining Paul cut to the basket, fell to his right and flipped the ball over Spurs center Tim Duncan into the basket.
The Clippers play the Houston Rockets in the second round.
The Spurs' early departure from the NBA playoffs could be a blessing for the Australia's Olympic team.
Instead of playing deep into June seeking the Spurs' sixth championship since 1999, Mills and Baynes will be resting their bodies ahead of the crucial two-game Olympic qualifying series with New Zealand in August.
Mills missed 31 games of the regular season after shoulder surgery and Baynes has been dogged in the playoffs by an ankle injury.
Three other Boomers, Andrew Bogut (Golden State Warriors), Matthew Dellavedova (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Cameron Bairstow (Chicago Bulls), remain in the NBA championship hunt.
Mills and Baynes, however, said they weren't sure when they would travel back to Australia.
It was their plan to play the Rockets in the next round.
While Baynes may be without a new club next season Mills has two years left on the three-year $US13 million contract he signed last year.
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