Castle's 30-Point Triple-Double Not Enough as Spurs Blow Big Lead to Nuggets

When the Spurs faced off against the Nuggets on Thursday night, both teams were missing key pieces. San Antonio has gotten used to piecing things together, but it all fell apart in the end as the Nuggets erased a 20-point deficit to win 134-131.

Stephon Castle put up a 30-point triple-double, and De'Aaron Fox added 27 points and 9 assists, but San Antonio gave up 81 points in the second half. They were clearly missing Victor Wembanyama on the defensive end of the floor, but probably should have pulled this one out even though he wasn't out there.

"Obviously a lot different without Vic out there. Some guys don't even want to drive because he's on the court. So obviously there's a big change in that. But, I mean, we have to learn how to still get stops in the paint without him," said Castle, who had a chance to tie it late on a shot that rattled out. "We shouldn't even have been in that position to for that to decide where we went to lose that game."

Wembanyama was 50-50 heading into the game with right ankle soreness, and warmed up with ankle braces on before he was ruled out.

"It was a close call, because there's a chance he could play. But it was clear that it was the right decision in terms of, there was nothing that we wanted to risk, has kind of been the North Star of every decision we've made in terms of our intention with him, and don't think it'll be long term thing. So hopefully the rest will do him good."

Johnson said he's optimistic Wembanyama will be ready on Saturday, but isn't sure.

"I do, but that doesn't mean he will," Johnson said. "You know, it's going to be a wait and see thing. But yeah, I mean, he was pretty close tonight, so again, hopefully the rest serves him well, but if not, then we'll go to the next game."

Johnson tried some stuff out in this game. The newest Spur Mason Plumlee got some run at backup center, but more interesting was Johnson's experimentation with Carter Bryant and Keldon Johnson at small-ball center. He threw Bryant out there briefly at the end of San Antonio's incredible comeback against the Clippers earlier in the homestand, and leaned into it even more tonight.

"I thought they were great. I thought they fought. I thought they tried to front," Johnson said. "I have no complaints regarding the physicality and the competitiveness that we showed tonight. There was some gamesmanship that was good for us to go through and experience tonight."

Bryant attacked Jokic, spaced the floor, and finished with 10 points.

"I definitely think it's a potential use for him," Johnson said after the Clippers game. "I do think it's unfair to get too broad in what we're asking him to do right now, I think that's probably more of a byproduct of the Victor minutes, to not also overrunning Luke. So I think it's definitely something we'd like to grow, I love the idea of it, but I also want him to just keep on hitting singles and killing it like he is."

Vassell started out hot and finished with 18 points, and Harrison Barnes added 20 points and 7 rebounds in his return after missing five games with an ankle impingement.

Speaking of crucial role players, the Nuggets were missing a guy who unlocks so much of their potential on both ends of the floor in Aaron Gordon.

"One of the most unique players in our league," Adelman said before the game. "The ability to run your offense, he can bring the ball up, handle, orchestrate. He can be the guy at the elbow. He can be the guy at the dunker, arguably the best player in the dunker in our league, not to mention the shooting that's improved over the years, has become a very good set shooter, knock down shooter, and then defensively, he can guard one through five."

Gordon is one of the most impactful "role players" in the league, and role player is in quotes there because he's part of Denver's big three and a true star in his role. He's now missed both games against the Spurs, and the fact that he's only played in 26 total games this season because of a hamstring issue has clearly hamstrung the Nuggets this season.

"Last night he guards Sengun, allows us to cross match, do different things. Aaron's a reason why we have a banner hanging in our arena. He's been a very special player for us. Not having him this year has been challenging, but give the guys a lot of credit. The guys have stepped in and done things that were not in their comfort zone," Adelman said. "He makes our system really go in a lot of ways, maybe not the point of attack, but just spacing wise, and then defensively, like I said, just the versatility."

Despite missing Gordon, and despite playing in Denver last night, the Nuggets were able to storm all the way back and erase the Spurs' 20-point lead. San Antonio couldn't get the lid off the rim as they rushed some bad shots, and missed some good ones, and the Nuggets ripped off a 14-0 run to take a 9-point lead.

Part of it was the new lineups that haven't played much together getting a bit discombobulated. Part of it was the guys getting a bit overwhelmed by Denver's avalanche.

"There was a group that hadn't played as much, and we tried to keep the pace and be organized, and they made some tough shots, which I think we probably let affect us too much," Johnson said. "Some of the shots they made were great shot makers making shots. We've got to get on to the next play, and I think there's some stuff we can clean up. We got some good looks missed, some good shots that I wouldn't want to take back."

"I think just guys being out of position, us having a man down and CB and K, they had to play the five sometimes so getting into our sets, maybe we didn't know where we're supposed to be at during that portion of the game," Castle said. "But, I mean, I still think we should have came out and won the game no matter what five was on the court."