Fox shines in his return with Spurs, Lakers stumble in Atlanta

Point guard De'Aaron Fox made his NBA season debut with 24 points to power the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday against the New Orleans Pelicans 126-119.

These are the main scenes from an eight-game day that featured a resounding Los Angeles Lakers loss to the Atlanta Hawks on a quiet night from Luka Doncic.

Wemby gets his partner back

The Spurs, one of the pleasant surprises at the start of the season, welcomed back second-stringer De'Aaron Fox in a comfortable win over the Pelicans, who are currently last-place in the Western Conference.

The former Sacramento Kings point guard, for whom San Antonio gave up four first-round draft picks in February, had not been on the court since March.

Against the Pelicans, Fox showed he is fully recovered from his hamstring injury by playing 31 minutes in which he scored 24 points on 9-14 shooting from the field (64.3%), captured three rebounds and dished out three assists.

As he gets into rhythm, Fox let junior Stephon Castle continue to lead the way, finishing with 14 points and 14 assists.

Wembanyama, meanwhile, finished with 18 points and 18 rebounds, with a low shooting percentage (42.1%), and is still far from the colossal numbers he signed in the first week of competition.

The return of Fox was long awaited by the Spurs, who just lost for several weeks the promising point guard Dylan Harper, chosen with the number two pick in the last NBA Draft.

The Texan team, which has not qualified for the playoffs since 2019, holds the second position in the West with seven wins and two losses, only surpassed by the reigning champions, Oklahoma City Thunder (9-1).

Doncic slows down

The Lakers dropped their streak of five straight wins in Atlanta with a clear-cut 122-102 loss in which they trailed by 30 points.

Luka Doncic, the lone Los Angeles star standing, scored 22 points to lead all scorers on the night but lowered his historic early-season average.

The Slovenian star, who was at scoring levels not seen since Wilt Chamberlain, was now averaging 40 points, 11 rebounds and 9.2 assists in the six games he has played.

Against Atlanta, Doncic dished 11 assists but also committed five of his team's 19 turnovers, which led to 36 points for the hosts, frustrating coach J.J. Redick.

Power forward Mouhamed Gueye scored 21 points for the Hawks, who were without their top three players Trae Young, Kristaps Porzingis and Jalen Johnson.

The Lakers also were without Austin Reaves, out for the third straight game, and LeBron James, who has yet to make his season debut because of sciatica.

Jokic's masterclass

The Denver Nuggets beat the Indiana Pacers 117-100 powered by Nikola Jokic's sixth triple double of the season.

The Serbian center secured 32 points, 14 rebounds and 14 assists in 32 minutes in which he had to multiply to compensate for the absences of his main partners, Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon.