3 takeaways from Spurs without Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle

After starting the first two weeks of the new NBA year without star De’Aaron Fox, San Antonio Spurs were without both Victor Vembanyama and Stephon Castle for the last two weeks or more. Throw in the 2025 second overall pick Dylan Harper out for most of November and the Spurs have already lost perhaps their four best players (definitely their best three) to injuries at various points this young season.

It sounds like the Silver and Black will be without their Rookie of the Year back for quite some time.

“The updates have been great in terms of moving forward,” head coach Mitch Johnson said. “They’re on the field, they’re doing well. They’re doing really well.”

However, the first-year coach of the Spurs did not give a time frame for their return.

“Hopefully they continue to increase and then how do you feel tomorrow and continue that process that we always do. But hopefully those guys will get a little livelier and continue to improve. They’re doing really well.”

With theirs dynamic duo outhere are three takeaways from Spurs’ time without two of their top three scorers.

De’Aaron Fox picked up the slack

Vembanjama has not played since November 14 against the Golden State Warriors. Castle came out at halftime of the next game. After scoring 24 in that loss to the Warriors, De’Aaron Fox had 28 in the aforementioned win against the Sacramento Kings two days later. It’s a trend he’s continued, scoring at least 24 points in six of San Antonio’s games since, with the exception of 15 in a win over the Denver Nuggets and including 37 in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers.

A 2023 NBA All-Star, Fox is putting up the numbers the franchise envisioned when they traded for him in February. He looks a lot like a player who has averaged at least 25 points per game nearly every season since 2020.

Spurs are getting surprising performances

In a 135-126 win against the Atlanta Hawks, the Spurs got 12 points, six assists and five rebounds from David Jones Garcia. While those aren’t earth-shattering numbers in pro ball, they hold up considering that Jones Garcia is already a journeyman at just 24 years old. The organization’s Summer League star took that performance to the NBA for one night.

When San Antonio won the toughest bracket in the NBA Cup, Julian Champagne poured in 25 points to beat the Nuggets in Denver and win Group C. The former St. John’s standout is averaging 11 points per contest.

Although not surprising given that they are Harrison Barnes contributed to their NBA careers and Keldon Johnson made several performances that sparked the Spurs.

Spurs are good

Including the game in which Castle came out at halftime, Mitch Johnson’s team is 5-2 without Webby and Castle. That includes wins against. Nuggets in the Cup game that conquers alla Hawks team that just snapped a five-game winning streak, and a Memphis Grizzlies team that has since won five of its last six.

The Spurs will play in the quarterfinals of the NBA Cup on December 10. Meanwhile, they continue to rank in the top half of the Western Conference.

Not bad. Especially considering they are yet to field a full team.