Stephon Castle put together the kind of night that changes the feel of a game fast, and the San Antonio Spurs rode it to a runaway 123-85 win over the Golden State Warriors on Friday night in NBA Cup play at Frost Bank Center.
Castle finished with a season-high 32 points, blowing past his previous best of 24 from the opener against the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was efficient all night, going 12-of-18 from the field, 5-of-8 from 3-point range and a perfect 3-of-3 at the line. He also added six assists and five rebounds, and his plus-35 was the best mark in the game.
San Antonio set the tone immediately. The Spurs opened on an 18-0 burst, the largest start to a game in the play-by-play era, and never let Golden State breathe.
After one quarter, the lead was already 38-14. By halftime, Castle had 18 points and four made threes, and the Spurs were up by 30.
One of his best sequences came when he connected with Wembanyama on a lob that ended with a reverse slam.
Wembanyama, the 2026 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, filled the box score with 12 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Keldon Johnson added 18 points off the bench, and Harrison Barnes scored 11.
Golden State was missing Stephen Curry, who is sidelined with a torn oblique, along with Jimmy Butler III and Moses Moody. The Warriors never found much rhythm offensively, shooting just 33.3% from the field.
Rookie Yaxel Lendeborg, who had been averaging 21.7 points per game, struggled badly and finished 1-of-13 for three points. LJ Cryer led Golden State with 20 points on six 3-pointers.
The win pushed San Antonio’s streak to 11 straight and moved the Spurs to 11-2 on the season. It also gave them an edge in the NBA Cup Western Conference race. Golden State fell to 8-5 overall.
San Antonio will try to keep rolling Sunday when it visits the Utah Jazz.
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For a young Spurs group still trying to establish its identity, it was the kind of night that felt bigger than one regular-season win. Golden State never found much rhythm, shooting just 25% in the first half and fading into a loss that left the Warriors at 1-1 in NBA Cup group play, while San Antonio walked away with a performance that looked like a message as much as a result. [Read more 🡒]