The Golden State Warriors have pulled off a dramatic 113-111 comeback win to stun Patty Mills' San Antonio Spurs in game one of the NBA Western Conference Finals.
The Spurs dominated most of Sunday's game at the Warriors' Oracle Arena, jumping out to a 30-16 lead at the end of the first quarter, maintaining a 62-42 half-time advantage and extending the lead to 25 points in the third.
The Warriors, led by Stephen Curry's 40 points and Kevin Durant's 34, stormed back late in the third, took the lead with four minutes to go and held on for the win.
"Tough loss," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.
"A great opportunity and we let it slip away."
The turning point came midway in the third quarter when the Spurs were up 72-52 and their All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard stepped back after taking a three-pointer, landed on team-mate David Lee's foot and aggravated a left ankle injury he suffered last week against the Houston Rockets.
Lee was sitting on the bench.
Leonard attempted to play on, but soon after he attempted to take another shot and stepped on Warriors' centre Zaza Pachulia's foot.
Leonard was helped to the locker room and his status is uncertain for Tuesday's game two at Oracle Arena.
"Huge," Spurs' veteran Manu Ginobili, asked to describe the loss of Leonard, said.
"We need Kawhi to score."
When a reporter asked Popovich if the usually steadfast Spurs became rattled as the Warriors went on an 18-0 run following the Leonard injury, the coach replied: "Good observation".
Mills started at point guard and played 37 minutes, but he struggled with just five points.
He missed seven of eight shots, including all six three-point attempts.
Ironically, with just half a second to go and the Warriors up 113-110 the Spurs' success relied on Mills missing a shot.
Mills was fouled by the Warriors' Klay Thompson and stepped up to shoot two free throws.
He needed to sink the first and then purposely miss the second with the hope of one of his Spurs team-mates tipping the offensive rebound within half a second to tie the score and send it to overtime.
Mills did his job by hitting the first and missing the second, but in the scramble for the ball the Spurs failed to control it and the game went to the Warriors.
"What a game," Warriors' acting head coach Mike Brown said.
"Not one point did our guys hang their head."
Leonard was sensational before his demise, with 26 points and eight rebounds but without him the Warriors dominated the offensive rebounds.
Mills' off night will not dampen Popovich's view of the Australian.
Before the game Popovich raved about Mills and joked about him becoming a free agent at the end of the season and how the Spurs could struggle to retain him.
"I don't want to talk too much about Patty Mills because the more good things I say the more we have to pay him," Popovich said.
"That's the truth.
"He has been fantastic.
"He is going to have 94 teams after him."
Mills is expected to attract four-year deals totalling $US75 million ($A101 million) from the Spurs or a rival team.
"He's just a special competitor, team player, he's a big part of the spirit of our team whether he starts or comes off the bench he's the same," Popovich continued.
"He's just a beautiful human being that energises a whole group."
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