Paul George scores 23 points in preseason debut with 76ers

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Paul George’s scoring touch was on display in his preseason debut with the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday night.

George made 8 of 15 shots and scored a team-high 23 points in a 121-111 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

George logged 26 minutes, hit four 3-pointers and added six rebounds and two assists.

His exhibition debut continued a stretch of new faces in new places during this preseason, along with the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns in New York, Chris Paul in San Antonio, DeMar DeRozan in Sacramento and Klay Thompson in Dallas.

The 76ers — who signed George to a four-year, $212 million contract as a free agent this summer — are his fourth team, after seven years with Indiana, two with Oklahoma City and the last five as part of the Los Angeles Clippers. He’s a nine-time All-Star, six-time All-NBA selection and has averaged 20.8 points over his first 14 NBA seasons.

The game in Iowa was a homecoming for 76ers coach Nick Nurse. He’s an Iowa native, coached Minnesota’s G League team when it was Iowa, and is the previous head coach at NAIA member Grand View University — located in Des Moines. Nurse was the youngest college coach in the country when he took that job at 23.