The Spurs’ No. 1 draft pick, Wembanyama, made his career debut yesterday against the Mavericks. He ended up with 15 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. However, the Mavericks teamed up with two guards in Doncic and Irving. Led by scoring 55 points and 16 assists, he defeated the Spurs 126-119.
The Spurs welcomed the opening game of the new season at home yesterday, attracting more than 18,000 fans to watch the first pick of No. 1 pick Wenbanyama in his career. He also gave Irving a hot pot shot at the start of the game, but then… He got into foul trouble and only played 23 minutes. The Spurs, who once led after the first half, suffered a comeback in the second half by the Mavericks’ two-guard lead, and suffered their first defeat of the season.
Wembanya got into foul trouble in his career debut. Spurs head coach Popovich said: “One of the most difficult things for a player is to get into foul trouble, which will make it difficult for you to get into rhythm. But I think he has shown his maturity.” And Wembanyama also admitted that he did have a lot of emotions in his career debut, and his only regret was that he failed to help the team win.
Doncic scored a game-high 33 points yesterday with 13 rebounds and 10 assists. Talking about the opening game against Wembanya, he said: “It’s very interesting. We know this stadium will be very good.” Noisy, but being able to go up against one of the best prospects in the NBA, I personally love that challenge.”
