During his Friday night preseason debut with the Philadelphia 76ers, Paul George displayed his scoring prowess.

In a 121-111 defeat against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Des Moines, Iowa, George hit 8 of 15 shots and scored a team-high 23 points. In his 26 minutes, he made four 3-pointers, pulled down six rebounds, and dished out two assists.

Along with Karl-Anthony Towns in New York, Chris Paul in San Antonio, DeMar DeRozan in Sacramento, and Klay Thompson in Dallas, he made his exhibition debut during this preseason.

The 76ers are George’s fourth franchise; he spent seven years with Indiana, two with Oklahoma City, and the last five with the Los Angeles Clippers. George signed a four-year, $212 million contract with the 76ers this summer as a free agency. Throughout his 14 NBA seasons, he has averaged 20.8 points per game and has been selected as an All-Star nine times and All-NBA six times.

Coach of the 76ers Nick Nurse was making his way home for the game in Iowa. A native of Iowa, he served as the head coach at Grand View University, a member of the NAIA, in Des Moines, and coached Minnesota’s G League club while it was based there. When Nurse assumed the position at age 23, he was the youngest college coach in the nation.

The Philadelphia Inquirer said that Nurse remarked, “It doesn’t come around very often that you get to bring an NBA team back to your old stomping grounds like this.” It’s good that Minnesota coach Chris Finch felt the Timberwolves and Iowa Wolves needed a game to strengthen their relationship. In actuality, we were searching for a pair. Thus, it suited rather well. I’m happy to be here.