Patty Mills, Aron Baynes and their San Antonio Spurs will get another chance at dethroning LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.
The Spurs needed overtime to extinguish the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-107 on Saturday to claim a 4-2 series victory, the Western Conference title and a finals berth against Eastern Conference champs the Heat.
The Spurs will host the Heat in game one of the best-of-seven game series on Thursday.
Australian duo Mills and Baynes, along with their Spurs team-mates, are seeking revenge after having last year's championship in their grasp before it was ripped away by James' heroic exploits.
"We still have that bad taste in our mouths," Spurs' veteran All-Star centre Tim Duncan said after scoring 19 points and grabbing 15 rebounds in the win against the Thunder.
Mills could be called upon to play big minutes against the Heat, with the Spurs' starting point guard Tony Parker forced to sit out the second half of the deciding game against the Thunder because of an ankle injury.
San Antonio head coach Gregg Popovich was full of praise for the way his team didn't wilt after the heartache of last year's defeat by the Heat.
"Our guys grew from the loss last year," Popovich said.
"I call it fortitude.
"I think they showed an unbelievable amount of fortitude to have that tough loss, especially the game six, and not have a pity party.
"They came back this year and got back to the same position.
"I'm really proud of them and even happier for them."
The Spurs were leading 3-2 in last year's finals series and with 20 seconds to go in game six were up 94-89 and appeared certain to take the title.
Fans at Miami's American Airlines Arena began to file out and NBA officials were encircling the court with yellow tape in anticipation of the Spurs' trophy ceremony.
However, in what has been called one of the greatest games in NBA history, James hit a three pointer and then Heat sharpshooter Ray Allen sank another from behind the arc to give Miami the win and take the series to game seven.
The finale was another nail biter, with Duncan missing a shot and tip in under the basket in the last minute that would have tied the game, giving the Heat their second straight title.
Share
