Stephon Castle’s monster night fuels San Antonio Spurs

LOS ANGELES – Stephon Castle’s 40-point triple-double propelled the San Antonio Spurs to a fourth straight National Basketball Association (NBA) victory on Feb 7 with a 138-125 win over the reeling Dallas Mavericks.

In addition to a career-high in points, Castle grabbed 12 rebounds and handed out 12 assists, coming up with three steals and a blocked shot for good measure.

The 2025 Rookie of the Year became at 21 the third-youngest player to record a 40-point triple-double, behind LeBron James and Luka Doncic. He joined Hall of Famer David Robinson as the only Spurs players with 40-point triple-doubles.

“Best game of his career so far,” teammate Victor Wembanyama told ESPN. “It’s one of the best stat lines I’ve seen with my own eyes.”

Castle was brutally efficient, connecting on 15 of his 19 shots to help the Spurs post their second win in three days over the Mavs, who have lost seven straight games.

Devin Vassell added 17 points and Victor Wembanyama had 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Spurs, who led 81-67 at half-time.

Klay Thompson led the Mavericks with 19 points while sensational rookie Cooper Flagg finished with 14 – ending his streak of four games with 30 or more.

Flagg did not play in the fourth quarter, with Mavs coach Jason Kidd saying after the game that the 19-year-old was battling a stiff back.

Castle reached 40 points with a put-back dunk midway through the fourth quarter that put San Antonio up 129-108.

He said: “Having a game like this, it’s definitely a dream come true. It felt good just to be out there feeling comfortable with every shot that I took and (got to) see them go in.”

The Houston Rockets, fuelled by Alperen Sengun’s triple-double and some timely baskets from superstar Kevin Durant, rallied to beat the short-handed NBA champions the Thunder 112-106 in Oklahoma City.

Houston trailed by as many as 15 in the second quarter against a Thunder team missing reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who is out through the All-Star break with an abdominal injury

But they chipped away to take the lead in the third period and held on down the stretch to snap a two-game losing streak.

Durant, bottled up in a first half that saw him attempt just three shots, finished with 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting.

Turkish centre Sengun scored 17 points with 12 rebounds and 11 assists and added three steals and three blocked shots.

However, Sengun was remorseful for making a sexist remark to a female referee during a game on Feb 4, when he was ejected from the 114-93 loss to the Boston Celtics on after calling official Jenna Reneau a “b***h” multiple times.

“That was immature by me,” Sengun said, per ESPN. He added that he apologised to Reneau after the game.

On Feb 7, Tari Eason led Houston’s scoring with 26 points as all five Rockets starters finished with at least 16.

Cason Wallace scored 23 points to lead the Thunder, who still boast the league’s best record at 40-13.

Elsewhere, a milestone night for Nikola Jokic helped the Denver Nuggets bounce back from a double-overtime loss to the New York Knicks with a 136-120 victory over the Bulls in Chicago.

Jokic scored 22 points, grabbed 14 rebounds and handed out 17 assists, his 182nd career triple-double moving him past Oscar Robertson for second on the all-time list headed by Russell Westbrook’s 207.

In Atlanta, Charlotte’s Miles Bridges scored 26 points and rookie Kon Knueppel added 23 as the Hornets posted their ninth straight victory with a 126-119 win over the Hawks.

The Hornets’ streak is the longest active streak in the league and the club’s longest since they won nine in a row in 1999.

In Los Angeles, LeBron James scored 20 points with seven rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Lakers to a 105-99 victory over the Golden State Warriors.

Moses Moody led the Warriors with 25 points in a California clash that lost some of its lustre with the injury absences of Warriors star Stephen Curry and the Lakers’ Luka Doncic. AFP