Spurs’ Stephon Castle is getting real on Victor Wembanyama’s minutes limit

ByNBAUSA



Victor Vembanyama has yet to play more than 25 minutes in a game for San Antonio Spurs having returned from a calf strain. Recently, unlike several other contests while on the minutes restriction, the generational talent has seen most of his action in the first half. That’s the dynamic of that star guard Stephen Castle don’t focus on.

“I don’t think so,” the reigning Rookie of the Year replied when asked if Wemby’s absence during what ultimately proved to be a key point in his backfield.

After the silver and black built a 20-point lead at halftime, the Washington Wizards began to come back in the third quarter. Vembanjama had already seen 15 minutes of action by that point. He is allotted about 22 minutes per night.

“We just go out and play with any five on the court,” Castle continued. “Obviously, we want the big guy on the field as much as we can. But, I mean, just getting him back recently, I feel like his health is more important than that.”

The The Spurs beat the Wizards 124-113 that nightwinning for the fourth time in five since their top scorer returned.

Stephon Castle, Spurs on track for Victor Wembanyama return

While the 7-foot-5 Wembanyama is key to the Spurs’ success, as far as head coach Mitch Johnson is concerned, certain aspects don’t change regardless of his status.

“With or without Victor, our standard, our brand, our identity,” Johnson said of what is key to his club.

Although Washington came out strong in San Antonio’s last win, the first-year Spurs coach has had positive results in minutes without Wembey.

“I thought we showed some good signs of that. And then, yeah, not as consistently as we would have liked. But again, we did it.”

After the win against the Wizards, the Spurs have a record of 21-7. Since that win, they are in second place in the Western Conference of the NBA behind only defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder as well as first in the Southwest Division. While the performance against the Wizards wasn’t their best, it showed the effort the Spurs showed.

“Yeah, I think it was one of those games where we just needed guys at times to step up and do it,” Johnson continued. “It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t up to our standards in some ways, but it’s a long season and you can’t always be too selfish about how it looks. And so, I thought our guys did a good job just enough to hang on.”

The Spurs received contributions from outside their own The ‘Big Four’, which includes De’Aaron Fox and Dylan Harper along with Castle and Vembanyama.

“Those guys did that, especially in the fourth quarter when those guys stepped up. And you have confidence in them after what they did when Wemby was out.”

San Antonio will continue to rely on Devin Vassell, Harrison Barnes, Julian Champagnie, Luke Kornet and Keldon Johnson – with or without their player.





2025-12-23 17:30:00

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