Patty Mills says there is a simple reason why he does not fear becoming a victim of a "dangerous" close out defensive play in San Antonio's NBA Western Conference Final series against the Golden State Warriors.
"I can't jump really high anyway," said the Spurs' Australian point guard, generating laughs from reporters.
"I don't get off the ground very much."
Spurs coach Gregg Popovich was furious with what he described as Warriors' centre Zaza Pachulia's unsportsmanlike play in Sunday's game one at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
The incident led to Spurs' All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard being forced to the locker room after aggravating an ankle injury.
Pachulia denied he purposely tried to hurt Leonard.
The incident happened as Pachulia was closing out defensively on Leonard, who was airborne while taking a jump shot.
Pachulia took several steps and his left foot was placed under where Leonard was about to land.
When Leonard came down his already injured left ankle rolled off Pachulia's shoe and he crumbled in pain.
The Spurs were leading by 23 points at the time, but with Leonard unable to play the Warriors came back to win a 113-111 thriller.
Mills declined to comment on the play and deferred to Popovich, who was not shy about calling out Pachulia.
"Two step lead with your foot closeout is not appropriate," Popovich said.
"It's dangerous, it's unsportsmanlike."
Game two is at Oracle Arena on Tuesday (Wednesday 11am AEST).
The Spurs need Mills' scoring, but they also need him to put defensive pressure on the Warriors' lethal shooter Stephen Curry.
Mills had a rough shooting game in the loss, missing all six three-point attempts and connecting with just one of eight shots from the field.
Mills, who played 37 minutes in game one, says it will take an enormous team effort to dampen Curry's impact and beat the Warriors.
"It's tough and we all knew it," Mills said.
"We need to have a lot of battery packs in the back pocket to be able to chase him around but it's a team defensive job.
"Everyone needs to know where he is on the court at the one time as well as their other shooters and playmakers."
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