He delivered a Welcome to Country as part of the first ever NBA Indigenous Heritage Night in San Antonio on Monday.

The Canberra basketballer worked with the traditional owners of the land on which the Spurs stadium stands to make the concept happen.

He spoke before San Antonio's 107-102 win over the Miami Heat.

"I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land [on which] we've all gathered here today, the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation, and pay my respects to their elders, past present and emerging," Mills said.

"In an attempt to highlight the need to preserve, protect, and promote traditions and culture of all Indigenous people throughout the world.

"I'd like to thank the San Antonio Spurs and everyone who contributed to making this the NBA's first ever Indigenous Night.

"So in the words of the honourable Dr Martin Luther King Jr, 'We are not makers of history, we are made by history'."

Mills was one of the Spurs' best on the night, scoring 18 points - including four three-pointers - along with LaMarcus Aldridge (21 points) and DeMar DeRozan (20).

They trailed by three points at quarter-time, but turned it on in the second and last stanzas to get the win.

The 31-year-old admitted the cultural significance of the night played a part in his performance.

"I think so. There's little things like that that kind of tap into your psyche, I guess, that adds fuel to the fire to be able to go and play hard and work hard," Mills told Fox Sports.

"So I think there was that for sure. But at the end of the day it is what we do and you just try to do it with a lot of fun.

"[It was] a fun night, full of culture and basketball, so definitely good to get the win."

Mills said their heart-breaking one-point loss to the Atlanta Hawks had also played a part.

Spurs were overrun in the last quarter to go down 121-120.

"Yeah it did. I think they're the ones we hopefully put in the bank to be able to remember that feeling of how we played and how we can learn from that and grow from that," Mills said.

"It did obviously hurt and sucked for us to not come out on top and play the game that we did.

"Look, put it in the bank, learn from it and make sure it doesn't happen again. We're halfway through the season now and we've got to be able to make strides.

"To come out and play a game like this, especially in the last quarter execution-wise, we can start from here and keep on moving forward."

Mills also collaborated with San Antonio's own indigenous people to create a special "capsule collection" clothing range.

As part of it he spent time learning the Tap Pilam Coahuiltecan Nation's own traditions and customs.

He felt there was a crossover with his own background - his father is Torres Strait Islander and his mother is Indigenous.

"There's a lot of ties and similarities to my culture. It's a learning experience," Mills said.

"It's an educating system about important people, important people of not only San Antonio history, but American history."