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Chris Paul makes his pre-season debut for Spurs, setting up Victor Wembanyama
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Chris Paul makes his pre-season debut for Spurs, setting up Victor Wembanyama

Chris Paul makes his pre-season debut for Spurs, setting up Victor Wembanyama

In his pre-season debut with Spurs, Chris Paul finished the game with 5 points and 3 assists – 2 of which were for Victor Wembanyama.

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SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama already seem to be clicking.

Paul – a 12-time All-Star entering his 20th season in the NBA – made his preseason debut with San Antonio on Wednesday night and received a loud ovation from his new home crowd as he was the last player left in the was announced as part of the Spurs list. Starting lineup against the Orlando Magic.

And his first assist in his new uniform was fitting — an alley-oop lob that set up Wembanyama for a dunk late in the first quarter. Paul finished the game with five points and three assists in 23 minutes, two of them for Wembanyama.

“Felt very natural. It felt like it was a good move,” Wembanyama said of Paul’s first lob. “And he makes a lot of good plays.”

The Spurs are Paul’s seventh NBA franchise and when he makes his regular-season debut – preseason games don’t officially count – the 6-foot-2 guard will be the 11th player to appear in 20 NBA seasons.

“He’s so wise and has so much experience,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said of Paul after San Antonio’s 107-97 win. “Sometimes I get fascinated just listening to him say things to the players. “I should have thought of that,” something like that. He looks after them well and does it right.”

Vince Carter played in 22 seasons, a record that LeBron James will break in his first appearance this season. Robert Parish, Kevin Willis, Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki all played 21 seasons, and four other players – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant, Jamal Crawford and Udonis Haslem – reached the 20-season mark.

Paul is also third on the NBA’s all-time assists list with 11,894. He is 197 points behind Jason Kidd (12,097) for second place on this list, and John Stockton holds the record with 15,806.

“When you’re on the pitch with him, you definitely feel like he’s in control of things,” Wembanyama said. “It’s a bit calming. It’s another teammate I can rely on in difficult or doubtful moments. It’s just positive.”

Paul’s first game with Spurs was one of many notable pre-season debuts for top players who will wear new kits this season. Among them: Russell Westbrook debuted with Denver in Abu Dhabi last week, Karl-Anthony Towns scored 10 points in 15 minutes in his first appearance as part of the New York Knicks on Sunday and DeMar DeRozan appeared for the first time in a preseason game with Sacramento on Wednesday against Golden State.

Clearly, DeRozan is still finding his feet. “Which way should I go?” DeRozan asked as he entered the arena. But on the court, he was a quick learner – scoring the first points of Sacramento’s preseason with DeRozan’s signature mid-range jumper.

On Thursday, Klay Thompson — who has only played for Golden State — is expected to make his preseason debut for Dallas. Still unclear: When Paul George will make his preseason debut for Philadelphia, which won’t play another game until Friday.

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