The San Antonio Spurs were without budding superstar center Victor Wembanyama on Sunday when they hosted the Sacramento Kings. Wembanyama was held out due to a calf injury, and he is reportedly day-to-day.
It turned out that they didn’t need the 7-foot-4 tower of power to deal with a Kings team that is more talented than its record would suggest. Seven men scored in double figures, and they were led by former Kings guard De’Aaron Fox, who torched his old team to the tune of 28 points on 11-of-20 field-goal shooting and 11 assists, as they notched a 123-110 victory.
Spurs guard Stephon Castle, who is having a very strong second season in the NBA, played just four minutes and exited because of a hip injury. It was unclear when or how the injury occurred, and head coach Mitch Johnson had no information about the nature of the ailment.
“To be honest, I’m not sure,” Johnson said after the game. “I believe it’s his hip, but I don’t know anything. I just was told that he wasn’t coming back in the game. There was no drastic fall or big incident, I don’t believe, maybe there was a play but I’m not sure.”
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Castle, the No. 4 pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, came into Sunday averaging 18.4 points on 50.3% field-goal shooting, 7.8 assists and 6.3 rebounds a game. He was named last season’s Rookie of the Year with averages of 14.7 points and 4.1 assists a game.
At 6-foot-6, he can play both guard spots, and he has plenty of defensive potential thanks to his size and athleticism. His arrival and emergence has given the Spurs not only a very bright future but also hope for the present.
San Antonio improved to a 9-4 record with Sunday’s win and is in fifth place in the Western Conference. Plenty of pundits don’t believe the team is quite as good as its record would suggest, but there is a growing expectation that it will, at the very least, reach the playoffs this spring.
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After it hosts the Memphis Grizzlies and Atlanta Hawks this week, 10 of its next 13 games will be on the road, and it will face tough opponents such as the Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers and the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder. This stretch will reveal more of what the Sours are made of, especially if Castle has to miss some time.
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