Wembanyama, Spurs roll past the Pacers in Paris

AROUND THE NBA

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San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama shoots as Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin, left, and forward Pascal Siakam look on during the second half of Thursday’s game in Paris. THIBAULT CAMUS — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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Victor Wembanyama scored 30 points in his first NBA game on his native French soil, Devin Vassell added 25 and the San Antonio Spurs beat the Indiana Pacers 140-110 on Thursday night.

Wembanyama finished with 11 rebounds, six assists and five blocks for the Spurs. Harrison Barnes scored 20 for San Antonio, which won for only the second time in its last eight games.

The Spurs had a huge 57-31 edge in rebounding.

Bennedict Mathurin led Indiana with 24 points. Pascal Siakam added 18, Myles Turner scored 14 and Tyrese Haliburton and Obi Toppin finished with 13 each for the Pacers.

raptors 122, hawks 119 >> Scottie Barnes had 25 points, including a key basket in the final minute, and Toronto picked up its second road win of the season. Bruce Brown had 18 points, while Jacob Poeltl and Chris Boucher each had 17 in the opener of a two-game series in Atlanta.

trail blazers 100, magic 79 >> Anfernee Simons scored 21 points and Portland extended its winning streak to three with the victory over Orlando. Toumani Canara added 16 points and six rebounds for Portland. Deni Avdija finished with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists, while Jabari Walker had six steals in 19 minutes.

Lebron makes 21st all-star team >> LeBron James is extending his All-Star records. The NBA revealed the starters — some of them, anyway — for the revamped All-Star Game, and there wasn’t much in the way of surprises. James is now officially an All-Star for the 21st year.

The other starters:

• New York’s Jalen Brunson and Cleveland’s Donovan Mitchell as the Eastern Conference guards.

• Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston’s Jayson Tatum and New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns as the East frontcourt players.

• Golden State’s Stephen Curry and NBA leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander as Western Conference guards.

• Phoenix’s Kevin Durant and Denver’s Nikola Jokic as the West frontcourt players alongside James.

The starters were picked through a system of weighted balloting: 50% was fan voting, 25% was a media panel and 25% was voting by current players.

There are 14 more All-Stars yet to be announced, and they’ll be chosen in a vote of the league’s head coaches. That list will be revealed on Jan. 30, and the All-Star Game — now games, really — happens in San Francisco on Feb. 16.

There will be at least 15 different players who “start” at the All-Star Game this season. It’s the first year of a new All-Star format, with three games. The 24 All-Stars will be drafted into three teams of eight players apiece by TNT personalities and former NBA greats Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith.

Those three teams will be entered into a four-team tournament, with the remaining squad made up of NBA rookies and second-year players from the Rising Stars event on All-Star Friday. There are two semifinal games, with the winners meeting in a championship game. The games should go quickly; the first team to reach 40 points wins.

also >> New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson has been ruled out for tonight’s game at the Memphis Grizzlies. Williamson sat out Monday night’s victory over Utah with a non-COVID illness and New Orleans announced that he would remain out on Friday “due to return to play reconditioning from illness.” ... Charlotte Hornets guard Brandon Miller will miss the rest of the season after having surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right wrist. ... Franz Wagner returned to the Orlando Magic lineup against the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday after missing 20 games with a torn oblique. ... The NBA is still exploring ways to expand its role in European basketball and those talks with FIBA and other stakeholders will continue, Commissioner Adam Silver said.