UNC basketball talent catches fire out of the gates in Spurs debut

Before joining the San Antonio Spurs via trade from the Sacramento Kings in June, UNC Basketball's 2010-12 standout forward Harrison Barnes had made 850 starts in his 911 NBA regular-season appearances.

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And in the Spurs' regular-season opener on Thursday night, a 120-109 road loss to the Dallas Mavericks, it's safe to say that Barnes once again proved himself more than worthy of serving as the starting weapon.

In fact, the 32-year-old's performance and efficiency seemed far too high at the start of the first quarter to start games on the bench. Barnes, a former No. 7 draft pick and 2015 NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors, finished his first seven minutes in the Spurs threads with 12 points on 5-for-5 shooting from the field, including a 2- against-5. 2 clip from beyond the arc while adding two rebounds, an assist and a steal without committing a single turnover.

Sure, Harrison Barnes cooled down a bit at some point. Still, he totaled an encouraging 17 points and four goals for the contest, shooting 7 of 10 from the field, 2 of 5 from distance and 1 of 2 at the line in his 29 minutes of play.

Harrison Ingram, the Spurs' rookie forward out of UNC, was on the bench against the Mavericks but did not play. Therefore, the 21-year-old Dallas native, who came to San Antonio at No. 48 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft and is on a two-way contract, had no chance to collect his first regular-season stats in the league.

Next up for the Spurs and their pair of “Harrison” UNC basketball products is a home game against the Houston Rockets on Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET.

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