Patty Mills’ wait is finally over.
It seems odd drawing attention towards to the Australian guard seeing just five minutes of playing time but that is how hard it has been for Mills to get on the court this season for the Hawks.
Mills, who was traded a few times last summer before eventually settling at Atlanta, had not seen a single minute on the court until Sunday.
The veteran got the call-up in the final five minutes of Atlanta’s 136-108 win over the Washington Wizards, grabbing a rebound and draining a late 3-pointer.
Watch an average of 9 NBA Regular Season games per week LIVE on ESPN, available via Kayo. Join Kayo now and start streaming instantly >
The Hawks gave 14 players minutes in Sunday’s victory, having pushed out to a 122-92 lead when Mills first entered the game.
Trae Young lead the way for Atlanta with 26 points, six rebounds and 10 assists while Clint Capela (12 points, 11 rebounds) and Dejounte Murray (11 points, 10 assists) had double-doubles.
It was a rough night for Washington, who were competitive in a tight loss to Milwaukee on Saturday but struggled to contain an Atlanta team averaging the second-most points per game.
Curry tops Wemby in battle of the stars | 01:11
HOLMGREN BOLSTERS ROTY BID IN LOSS TO EMBIID-LED SIXERS
Elsewhere, Oklahoma City rookie Chet Holmgren continued to press his claims for Rookie of the Year honours after another standout performance, scoring a team-high 33 points in the Thunder’s 127-123 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Thunder squeezed every second they could from the clock late but six clutch free throws from Joel Embiid, who had 35 points, ensured victory for Philadelphia.
Embiid also had 11 rebounds, nine assists and four blocks in the win while Tyrese Maxey overcame a slow start to score 28 points for the Sixers.
Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way alongside Holmgren for the Thunder with 31 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals.
Australian Josh Giddey threatened a triple-double as he finished with 10 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
OKC coach Mark Daigneault had confirmed before Sunday’s game that Giddey would be free to suit up, although his availability will still continue to be subject to any actions from the NBA.
“Just with the information that we have at this point, that’s the decision we’ve made. It’s really not even a decision to be honest with you,” he said.
A Thunder spokesperson later clarified that by “not even a decision” Daigneault was referencing the fact the matter is now in the NBA’s hands.
The league is currently investigating Giddey amid allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a minor.
The Thunder took a 31-29 lead into the first quarter despite falling behind early, finishing the period on a 13-3 run in the final four minutes.
Knicks stun Heat with comeback in NY | 01:16
Jaylin Williams was the spark plug for Oklahoma City off the bench, hitting a quick pair of 3-pointers as he finished the opening quarter on nine points.
Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, was dependable as always with nine points to go with a steal and two assists.
As for Giddey, he dropped a floater for his first bucket of the night and then put it on a platter for the Holmgren alley-oop in one of three assists in the opening quarter.
“Josh put that ball where no one else can get it,” Michael Cage said in commentary.
Philadelphia had jumped out to a 10-3 lead after two minutes and were still ahead 26-18 in the latter stages of the quarter before OKC’s late run, which happened even with Embiid and Maxey both on the court.
Embiid led the Sixers after the first quarter with nine points but Maxey wasn’t able to have the same impact early, going 1-of-3 for just two points
Embiid started the second quarter on the bench and Oklahoma City took full advantage early, clamping down on defence and coming up with plays on the other end of the court to take a 43-36 lead.
Giddey questioned on social media claims | 00:38
Embiid made an immediate impact when he did return to the court as Philadelphia regained the lead, emphatically blocking a Williams layup before then hustling for the offensive rebound off a Maxey miss and kicking it out to De’Anthony Melton for the 3-pointer in one impressive sequence from the reigning MVP.
The Thunder picked up the pace though in a back-and-forth ending to the period as the Sixers held on to a 65-61 lead heading into halftime.
That continued into the third as time OKC regained ascendancy once more, this time on the back of seven early points from Holmgren as the Thunder went up 68-67.
A pair of Giddey free throws then extended the difference to 70-67 before Holmgren continued to step up, first hitting a 3-pointer before then blocking a Melton shot and backing up on the fastbreak for the dunk.
That brought up 12 points for Holmgren and a 75-71 lead for the Thunder. Maxey then started to heat up for the Sixers with four points and an assist as they pushed ahead 80-75.
Celtics reign top of the East | 00:59
It was just the beginning of what was Philadelphia’s most dominant stretch of the game, with the 76ers jumping out to a 93-80 buffer at one point for the biggest lead of the contest.
Isaiah Joe eventually scored OKC’s first points in three minutes but it was still Philadelphia with a commanding 93-82 lead entering the final quarter of the game.
Five quick points from Lu Dort early in the fourth had the Thunder back within seven points and down to four heading into the last two minutes of the game.
In the end though Oklahoma City was unable to run Philadelphia down despite incredibly scoring a flurry of points to keep the game alive as the Thunder intentionally fouled Sixers players late.
Embiid made six clutch free throws down the stretch to put the result beyond doubt.
NETS SNAP LOSING SKID
In other early action, the Brooklyn Nets snapped a three-game losing streak with a 112-97 victory over the short-handed Miami Heat.
Mikal Bridges scored 24 points and Cam Johnson added 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Nets, who had all five starters score in double figures.
Caleb Martin scored 22 off the bench to lead Miami and rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. scored 18 for the Heat, who played without Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo one day after surrendering a 21-point lead in a loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Los Angeles big man Anthony Davis scored 23 of his season-high 32 points in the second half as the Lakers earned a third straight NBA road win with a hard-fought 121-115 victory over the Cavaliers in Cleveland.
Davis posts season-high in Lakers win | 01:10
Davis added 13 rebounds and three blocked shots, helping the Lakers overcome a slow shooting night from superstar LeBron James against his former club, which honored the league’s all-time leading scorer with a video tribute in the first quarter.
James connected on just eight of 23 shots — one of nine from three-point range — on the way to 22 points in a nip-and-tuck game that featured 16 lead changes and never saw either team push its lead to double digits.
The Cavs’ 40-point first quarter saw them up by just five, and they led 71-70 at halftime.
Davis’s layup — after he rebounded a James miss, put the Lakers up 111-103 with 3:48 to play.
The Cavaliers cut the deficit to one with less than two minutes remaining, but James drove for a layup, came up with a steal and threw down a dunk and the Lakers held on.
“We just had to impose our will in the defensive end,” Davis said, acknowledging the Lakers benefitted from the second-half absence of Cleveland’s Darius Garland, who departed early with a neck injury.
But he hailed a “total team win” after seven of the eight Lakers players who took the court scored in double figures.
Donovan Mitchell, back after missing four games with a hamstring injury, finished with 22 points and Jarrett Allen added 21 points and 14 rebounds for the Cavs.