Indiana’s Rick Carlisle has coached more games against San Antonio’s Gregg Popovich than anyone else. They’ve had 87 head-to-head matchups, including playoffs.

Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs will face the Indiana Pacers in the NBA's 4th and 5th regular-season games in Paris.

Wembanyama was born and raised in Le Chesnay-Rocquencourt, a western Paris suburb, and has made it a focus this week to introduce his teammates to Parisian culture and the life he led before he became the NBA Rookie of the Year and likely next face of the league.

The high octane glitz of NBA basketball will descend on Paris on Thursday night as the San Antonio Spurs - who feature the French star Victor Wembanyama - take on the Indiana Pacers in the first of two regular season games.

Pregame analysis and predictions of the San Antonio Spurs vs. Indiana Pacers NBA game to be played on January 23, 2025 on ESPN.

The teams arrived in Paris on Monday, with practices and other events scheduled throughout the week and then the games toward the end. The Spurs were coming straight from the airport to a light workout in Nanterre — on the court that Wembanyama called home when started his pro career in the French league as a 15-year-old.

"We're going to throw everything we got at him just try do what we can go get a win," said Turner. "They are a tightknit group. They are guys who grind and hustle, so you know, we have to kind of match that intensity and supersede that.

The Indiana Pacers arrived in Paris this week for a pair of games against the San Antonio Spurs. This marks the first time the NBA will play two regular-season games in the French capital in the same season.