Nearly 10 years ago, when the unassuming kid from Australia arrived in Moraga to play college basketball at St. Mary’s, he caused barely a ripple on the Bay Area sports scene.
Sunday afternoon, when Patty Mills walks onto the court at Oracle Arena for Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, he will have the attention of the Warriors and their fans.
Tony Parker will not play in this series, felled by a ruptured tendon in his left quadriceps, but San Antonio seems well equipped to weather Parker’s absence. That’s because, in Mills, the Spurs have another skilled, capable point guard.