Wemby was beside himself but otherwise felt “great” in the opening game after the break.

DALLAS – Victor Wembanyama played a total of 39.8 minutes in two of San Antonio's five preseason games and acknowledged that the team's 120-109 season-opening loss on Thursday to the Dallas Mavericks proved to be “a little difficult conditioning-wise.”

Wembanyama played 28 minutes and finished with 17 points on 5 of 18 shooting with 9 rebounds, 1 assist and a game-winning 4 turnovers.

“Some moments felt great,” Wembanyama said. “At first it was a bit difficult in terms of fitness, as I expected. But I think we had some good basketball moments and some really bad ones.”

Wembanyama played a role in creating one of the few positive highlights of San Antonio's first half late in the second quarter when he pointed his left index finger up, signaling point guard Chris Paul to let it fly.

Paul gave Wembanyama a lob with 1:47 left in the half for the duo's first alley-oop together as Spurs.

But less than five minutes into the game, Spurs coach Gregg Popovich had to replace a clearly ailing Wembanyama, who had just suffered his second turnover of the night. Popovich predicted earlier this week that Wembanyama would show signs of rust after sitting out most of the pre-season.

Even the Frenchman admitted that Thursday's season opener would be uncharted territory, considering he was relatively inactive during pre-season due to playing for the French team at the Olympics until late in the summer.

“I didn’t see him being in shape or out of shape,” Popovich said after the game.

Wembanyama shot 2 of 8 in the first half and scored all of his turnovers in that span as the Mavericks outscored San Antonio 13-2 in the second chance but trailed 49-47 at the break. The 20-year-old continued to fight in the second half, scoring three of ten shots and five rebounds.

“For me, none of us have really played four games since the middle of the summer,” Wembanyama said. “It's a fight. Every player in the NBA goes through this. Conditioning is not an excuse (for misses). I will have different weapons that we need to know when to use. So with the missed shots, it takes more getting used to. Getting used to shooting, getting used to shooting again in a game.

Wembanyama expects to return to form in “a game or two,” he said.

San Antonio hosts Houston on Saturday at Frost Bank Center.

“Even in pre-season, Vic missed a game or two,” Paul said. “I missed a game or two. We had guys who were in and out. But man, I love the fight we showed. There are no moral victories, but we played against a team that made it to the final. So there is a continuity.” “For me, it's one thing not knowing what to expect in preseason. But I’m honestly so excited about the jumps I’ve seen and what our team is capable of.”