The ball bounced Castle’s way for a career-high 40 points in triple-double in Spurs’ win over Mavs

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Stephon Castle attacked the rim knowing he needed just one more basket for the first 40-point game of his two-year NBA career.

The game came so easily to the San Antonio Spurs guard on Saturday night, it was fitting that a missed shot caromed directly to him for his final two points. Castle leaped for the rebound and, in one motion, wound up and threw down a monstrous right-handed dunk to punctuate his second career triple-double.

Advertisement

“You could tell he knew,” All-Star Victor Wembanyama said with a chuckle. “It was crazy.”

Castle had a career-high 40 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists to lead the Spurs to their fourth straight win, a 138-125 victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

“Not having to force it,” Castle said of topping his previous high of 34 points. “I feel like it just came within the game.”

Castle was behind the 3-point line when Devin Vassell took a 25-foot shot from the left side of the court midway through the fourth quarter. As the ball was in flight, Castle sprinted untouched through the lane and outjumped teammate Dylan Harper as the ball bounded off the right side of the rim. Castle tumbled out of bounds after the emphatic putback, screaming in celebration as he sat out of bounds.

Advertisement

“The ball came off perfect, so it felt good,” Castle said. “But I mean, more importantly, it felt good to do that knowing we were going to get to win as well.”

San Antonio (36-16) won its ninth in 12 games to remain second in the Western Conference, 3 1/2 games behind Oklahoma City (40-13).

The NBA’s past two Rookie of the Year winners, Wembanyama and Castle have led the Spurs to their best start since 2016 as they try to end a six-season playoff drought.

While Wembanyama is an MVP candidate and will make his first All-Star start on Feb. 15 in Los Angeles, Castle is evolving into a dynamic two-way player in his second season out of Connecticut.

Advertisement

The fourth pick in last year’s draft, Castle has improved his scoring (16.5), assists (6.9), rebounds (5.0) and steals (1.3) while matching last season’s blocks (0.3). He’s also generally tasked with defending the…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ball-bounced-castles-way-career-070503596.html

Author : RAUL DOMINGUEZ

Publish date : 2026-02-08 07:05:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.