The De’Aaron Fox era is off to a great start for San Antonio.
The former Kings All-Star made his Spurs debut Wednesday and came out of the gates hot to help lead San Antonio to a 126-125 win over the Atlanta Hawks.
Fox tallied 24 points, 13 assists and three steals in a seamless transition as the running mate to Spurs superstar Victor Wembanyama. Three days after his arrival via trade from the Kings, Fox joined the starting Spurs lineup alongside Chris Paul, Devin Vassell, Harrison Barnes and Wembanyama.
There were no signs of growing pains as the Spurs opened up a 35-25 lead at the end of the first quarter. Fox assisted on two of San Antonio’s first three field goals, including setting up Wembanyama for a 3-pointer.
Fox’s first bucket was a pull-up 3 from the left wing midway through the first quarter.
He hit 3 another two possessions later to give the Spurs a 19-16 lead. By halftime, the Spurs held a 72-54 edge, and Fox had tallied 18 points and six assists.
Atlanta rallied to make it a game in the fourth quarter. Fox had the ball in his hands after the Hawks tied the game at 123-123 on a pair of Trae Young free throws in the final minute. He attacked the basket and missed a contested layup. But Wembanyama was there to clean up the miss with a put-back dunk for a 125-123 Spurs edge.
After the Hawks tied the game again on a Young floater, Fox once again had the ball in his hands with the game on the line. This time, he found a driving Wembanyama, who got fouled on a dunk attempt with 2.9 seconds remaining.
Wembanyama hit the first free throw, then caught the Hawks off guard by intentionally missing the second. Young’s desperation heave off the rebound from the opposite 3-point line missed the mark.
It added up to an ideal start for the Fox era in San Antonio as every Spurs starter scored in double figures.
Wembanyama was his normal stat-stuffing self with 24 points, 12 rebounds, two assists and one block. Paul produced alongside Fox in the backcourt with 11 points and nine assists as the pair took turns running San Antonio’s offense.
But in crunch time, the ball belonged to Fox, and it resulted in a San Antonio win.
As a team, the Spurs shot 50.5% from the field and 32.4% from 3 while assisting on 36 of their 51 made field goals. The Hawks actually had a better night from the field (52.7%) and from 3 (38.1%) as Young tallied 32 points and 12 assists. Onyeka Okongwu added 30 points and 12 rebounds.
But it wasn’t enough to overcome a 20-10 turnover margin as the Spurs forced 16 turnovers with steals.
