Patty Mills has enjoyed his first week with the Heat, while also reliving some bad memories

The hallway leading into the Miami Heat’s locker room at Kaseya Center is lined with championship memories. For newly acquired Heat guard Patty Mills, that hallway is lined with a few bad memories.

That’s because Mills was a member of the San Antonio Spurs team that the Heat defeated in the 2013 NBA Finals, and photographs of important moments from that championship series are plastered on the walls of what the Heat has deemed Championship Alley. Mills missed the final four games of that series because of an infection in his right foot.

“There is definitely a reliving of what happened a decade ago,” Mills, 35, said with a smile Tuesday after his first few days walking through the downtown Miami arena as a Heat player.

One wall adjacent to the entrance of the Heat’s locker room is covered with a blown-up photo of Ray Allen’s game-tying three-pointer from the right corner to tie up Game 6 of the 2013 NBA Finals with 5.2 seconds remaining, keeping the Heat’s season alive. Miami went on defeat San Antonio in overtime to force a Game 7.

Another wall near the entrance of the Heat’s locker room includes a photo of LeBron James’ championship-clinching 19-foot jumper to give the Heat a four-point lead over the Spurs with 27.9 seconds to play in Game 7.

Then small photos are sprinkled throughout the hallway of Heat players, coaches and staff members celebrating that title in 2013.

Those are moments that Mills would rather not be reminded of, but he appreciates what those memories represent to the Heat.

“Now that I am a part of this organization, the first time I walked into it, I see more of the culture as the thing that smacks you in the face and being in an environment where it’s all about winning, it’s all about sacrifice,” Mills said ahead of Wednesday night’s matchup between the Heat and Denver Nuggets in Miami. “And these reminders that you see when you walk through the alley, it’s like this is why we’re here, this is why we’re doing this. So there’s meaning, there’s purpose behind it.”

It’s a similar culture to the one Mills experienced when he spent 10 seasons with the Spurs from 2011 to 2021, with the Heat and Spurs known as two of the most stable organizations in sports. The longest tenured NBA head coach is Spurs coach Gregg Popovich (in his 28th season) and Heat coach Erik Spoelstra (in his 16th season) is second on that list.

“I think the strong foundation that both organizations have had,” Mills said when asked about the similarities he’s noticed between the two organizations. “Obviously, it helps having a lot of people around who have been here and been through the trenches to make it what it is. But the similarity is that it’s built on such a strong foundation, and it starts at the top and it trickles down through the rest of the playing group, the staff, the coaches, everyone else that works in the organization. That means a lot.”

Mills, who is in his 15th NBA season, signed a minimum contract last week to join the Heat for the rest of the season. He became available after the Atlanta Hawks waived him on Feb. 29.

Mills entered Wednesday’s game against the Nuggets with 20 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three-point range in 30 minutes off the bench in his first two appearances with the Heat.

“His professionalism, his leadership, all of those things add value to what we have going,” Spoelstra said of adding Mills in the final weeks of the regular season. “And also, we’re just tired of being on the other side of him being a Heat killer. If we can get him to join us, that’s a really good thing. I have deep respect for him.”

While the photos in Championship Alley at Kaseya Center remind Mills of falling short in the 2013 NBA Finals, those painful memories also remind Mills of bouncing back to defeat the Heat the next year in the 2014 NBA Finals. Mills made a team-high 13 three-pointers during that five-game championship series that ended with the Spurs winning the title in 2014.

“They’re all moments to remind you why you’re here and what you’re doing,” Mills said. “You have an important goal as part of a larger organization. There’s a deeper meaning, there’s a bigger purpose and you got to play your important role if you want to be the last team standing and hold that trophy up.”

HEATING UP

Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. has produced efficient results during the past few weeks.

Jaquez, 23, entered Wednesday averaging 13.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, two assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 60.5 percent from the field and 6 of 13 (46.2 percent) from three-point range through the Heat’s first five games in March.

“When you get to this time of the year, it’s time for everyone to step up their game,” Jaquez said after Wednesday’s morning shootaround. “It’s elite level basketball at this time of the year. For players like myself, it’s time to step up and see what else we can do, especially in big moments and big games.”

INJURY REPORT

The Heat ruled out Tyler Herro (right foot medial tendinitis), Kevin Love (right heel bruise), Josh Richardson (right shoulder surgery), Jamal Cain (G League) and Alondes Williams (G League) for Wednesday’s game against the Nuggets.

The Nuggets are expected to have their full rotation available against the Heat.