PARIS, France, January 25, 2025 – Frenchman Victor Wembanyama could not prevent the San Antonio Spurs from suffering a 136-98 defeat by the Indiana Pacers in Paris.
Beaten 140-110 by the Spurs on Thursday in the first of two regular-season NBA games in the French capital, the Pacers ran out comfortable winners at Accor Arena.
Tyrese Haliburton scored 28 points and Pascal Siakam 23 for the Pacers.
Wembanyama, who played for Paris-based Metropolitans 92 before being selected by the Spurs as the number one pick in the NBA Draft in 2023, managed 20 points and 12 rebounds. Team-mate Harrison Barnes scored 25 points.
This is the fourth year that the NBA has staged regular-season matches in Paris.
“It’s been really fun to be here,” said Haliburton. “It’s helping grow the game, the opportunity from the league has been amazing.
“We just wanted to leave the city on a good note. I thought it was a really good showing from us tonight and just want to carry this momentum going forward.”
Wembanyama, who was part of the France side beaten by the USA in the Olympic final last summer, scored 30 points in Thursday’s win over the Pacers.
The Pacers are fifth in the Eastern Conference and the Spurs fourth bottom of the West.
Celtic beat Dallas in Finals rematch
Defending champions the Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 122-107 in a repeat of last season’s NBA Finals.
Jayson Tatum scored 24 points, Derrick White 23 and Jaylen Brown 22 in Dallas as the Celtics recovered from their 21-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday.
The Houston Rockets won 135-131 at Eastern Conference leaders the Cleveland Cavaliers despite letting slip a 17-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
Cleveland drew level with one minute 51 seconds remaining before Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson scored for Houston.
The Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors 118-108 in San Francisco thanks to 36 points and 13 rebounds from Anthony Davis.
