Stephon Castle Delivers a Triple-Double Performance as the Spurs Defeat the 76ers at Frost Bank Center
Stephon Castle notched his fifth career triple-double and the Spurs held on to defeat the visiting Philadelphia 76’s without V-Dub, 115-102 Monday night at the Frost Bank Center.
The reigning Rookie of the Year finished Monday’s contest with 19 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds in the win. Dylan Harper added 17 points off the bench for the Silver and Black.
V-Dub had 17 points, five rebounds and three blocks in 15:40 of action before leaving the game with 44 seconds remaining in the second quarter with a rib contusion. The Spurs big man did not return for the second half and his status for the final week of the regular season is unknown.
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Luke Kornet finished with 10 points in 22 minutes in place of Wembanyama.
“I think it would be a positive that he felt he could play the last four-to-five minutes of the half,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson told reporters after the game. “That’s a positive from my perspective, but I have nothing (on his future status).”
“At halftime, I was told he wasn’t coming back, and honest to God, I haven’t heard anything else at this point,” Johnson added.
Philly big man Joel Embiid had 34 points and 12 rebounds to lead all scorers, and Paul George added 16 points for the Sixers.
Even without the services of V-Dub the Spurs dominated Philly inside, outscoring the Sixers 58-38 in the paint.
The Spurs (60-19) are now 2 1/2 games behind Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City (62-16) and assured of finishing no worse than second in the conference with three games remaining.
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Monday’s matchup with Philly begins a four-game homestand for the Spurs to close its regular season before hosting the first two games of the opening round of the playoffs.
V-Dubs injury status potentially puts his ability to earn postseason awards in jeopardy due the league’s 65 game minimum. He entered the night as the heavy favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year and is also a candidate for MVP
Because the NBA Cup Championship counts toward the 65-game rule for individual award eligibility, and because the league grants two exceptions for games in which a player recorded between 15 and 20 minutes, counting those as full games, Wembanyama’s time on the floor Monday night will count as his 64th game this season.
That means he will need to play in at least one of San Antonio’s remaining three games, and he’ll need to record at least 20 minutes on the floor to be eligible for individual awards.
Up Next:
Vs Portland (40-39, 10th place)
Wednesday, 4/8 @ 830pm
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Vs Dallas (25-43, 11th place)
Friday, 4/10 @ 7pm
Vs Denver (51-28, 3rd place)
Sunday, 4/12 @ 730pm
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