Mills has big game on meaningful day

Patty Mills celebrated his heritage Sunday with a performance that typified his career.

Mills provided a late spark, LaMarcus Aldridge scored 21 points and the San Antonio Spurs held off the Miami Heat 107102 Sunday.

The win came as San Antonio became the first NBA team to hold Indigenous People Night a meaningful cause to Mills, who is an Australian of aboriginal descent.

"It's an important night and it's really important to Patty," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "For the indigenous people here in Texas it's important to all of us, but it's sort of double for him because of his history and his background.

"He didn't play like he did because of that; he does that every night. His energy has been there his whole career. It's who he is."

Mills had 18 points and DeMar DeRozan added 20 as San Antonio snapped a two-game skid.

Mills requested the Spurs honor his ancestry as well as those of Native Americans, and the franchise obliged on the eve of Martin Luther King Day.

PACERS 115, NUGGETS 107: Domantas Sabonis had 22 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists, Doug McDermott scored 18 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter and Indiana rallied late to beat Denver Sunday night.

Malcom Brogdon and T. J . Warren a dded 2 2 points each for the Pacers, who snapped a 10-game skid at the Pepsi Center in Denver. They overcame a 30-point performance from the Nuggets' Nikola Jokic to win their fifth straight overall.

Jerami Grant and Will Barton added 16 points apiece for the Nuggets, who were again without injured starters Paul Millsap, Gary Harris and Jamal Murray.