The young and the restless: The young Spurs and a restless-always-moving-around-moving-screens Steph Curry is a story as old as the days of our lives. This entertaining game almost exorcised all the demons on a Marlena Evans-level of the Spurs taking that torch from the Warriors. Maybe next time. Regardless, our favorite team did not lack for firepower with Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle both garnering a triple-double. Wembanyama scored 31 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and dished out 10 assists. His counterpart, Castle, poured in 23 points, pulled down 10 rebounds, and whisked out 10 assists of his own. Knowing what’s possible when both of the Spurs’ best players (at least until De’Aaron Fox gets his sea legs under him) are cooking like this is the best feeling going forward.
In almost 80 years (add more flare and confetti for overly dramatic emphasis), only 4 other teammates combined for a 20-point triple-double in the same game. Basing off the fact that points-rebounds-assists is the most common triple-double, this kind of box score means that Wembanyama and Castle accounted for almost 50% of the team’s total points, rebounds, and 67 (don’t even start)% of total assists. That fact also means both players had a hand in either scoring, setting in that scoring, or preventing the other team from scoring by cleaning the glass. That kind of statistical anomaly is rarer than a Susan Lucci Daytime Emmy win.
Don’t bother fact-checking my back-of-the-napkin math, I was told there would be no fact-checking in this column.
I’m here for the “French Vanilla” connection, but I’ll see your French Vanilla and raise you a French Brass (\[K\]ornet) Full of Sass—I’ll see myself out, don’t delete me please. For his part, Luke Kornet, in the middle of enjoying a career-high 23 minutes per game, is also enjoying a career-high 11 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. Sure it’s an extremely small sample size of 4 grand total games for Mr. Kornet, but let’s focus on the fact that Kornet is an important piece of the frontcourt and allows the Spurs the luxury of having a capable backup center and the ability to employ two-big lineups when necessary.
My favorite part of this sequence is Wembanyama instinctively dribbling out from an offensive rebound to reset himself and then bulldoze his way into the basket, but only after remembering he’s Wembanfreakingyama and can impose his will down low.
No one, and I mean no none, hustles harder than Keldon Johnson, except my daughter who will pick up all her toys in 5 seconds flat if you promise her 10 minutes of K-Pop Demon Hunter music videos. Johnson continues to be the leader of the bench mob. On Wednesday, the stellar Sixth Man contributed 6 points and 9 rebounds.
There’s no better color scheme than Fiesta colors. If I could describe my feelings in Fiesta colors, I’d say the teal represents my optimism that the Spurs are a playoff team, the pink represents my hopes and dreams that the Spurs are a playoff team, and the orange represents my love of orange chicken, and the belief that the Spurs are a playoff team.
I, like many Spurs fans, are eagerly awaiting to see De’Aaron Fox fully spread his wings on this roster, but here in this silky smooth finish at the rim, Fox is giving us a glimpse of his explosive potential. Chemistry is an important ingredient, and this sample is a good preview of this team’s potential. Keep in mind that Fox and Wembanyama have yet to play even 10 games together. Once they eclipse at least a 50 game mark, we can start calling them The Fox and The Tall Hound of Rebound—that one sounded better in my head.
This lob from Wembanyama to Castle is a thing of beauty. Wemby’s playmaking has taken a leap this season, and he could easily and instantly improve on his current (and career-high) season average of 4 assists per game. Like peas and carrots, I look forward to seeing these two barbecue their opponents, boil them, broil them, bake them, sauté them . . . There’s shrimp-kabobs, shrimp creole, shrimp gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There’s pineapple shrimp, lemon shrimp, coconut shrimp, pepper shrimp, shrimp soup, shrimp stew, shrimp salad, shrimp and potatoes, shrimp burger, shrimp sandwich.
I’ve heard of behind-the-back passes, but cannot say I have often seen behind-the-defender’s back passes. Castle showed off his rapidly improving court vision and playmaking, especially in crowded spaces as seen here where he casually flips the ball to Wembanyama for the flush. Castle has settled in as a floor general for the Fiesta Spurs already hitting 7.9 assists per game in his sophomore season.
If you were too busy updating your résumé on LinkedIn for the GM opening in Dallas, here are the full-game highlights:
Next up, the Spurs look to avenge Wednesday night with another matchup against the Golden State Warriors on November 14, 2025.
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