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Michael C. Wright
SAN ANTONIO — Sitting one assist shy of a triple-double, Victor Wembanyama launched an inbounds Hail Mary pass that teammate Stephon Castle converted into a bucket with 0.2 seconds left in the Spurs‘ 125-120 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.
The play had no effect on the outcome of the game, but it gave Wembanyama his 10th assist to go with 31 points and 15 rebounds while Castle finished with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, making them the fifth duo in NBA history to each produce a 20-point triple-double in a game, according to ESPN Research, and the first in Spurs history.
«I was thinking about [the double triple-double] of course,» Wembanyama said of his inbounds pass. «I don’t even remember the score, but I think it was the right decision.»
Wembanyama and Castle also became the first teammates to each record 20-point triple-doubles in a loss.
«Obviously, we wanted to win,» said Castle, a second-year guard who had the first triple-double of his career. «But yeah, happy to get [two triple-doubles]. It is something great to be a part of. Proud to be a part of it, but we needed to win to add onto it.»
Golden State guard Stephen Curry prevented that by racking up a game-high 46 points as the Warriors connected on 21 3-pointers in overcoming a 16-point first-half deficit and turning it into a 10-point lead in the final minute of the third quarter.
Castle and Wembanyama reached their triple-doubles in the last six seconds of the game. Castle grabbed his 10th rebound with 5.4 seconds to play in completing his triple-double. Wembanyama completed his second career 30-point triple-double with the full-court heave that Castle banked in just before the final buzzer.
Wembanyama also had eight turnovers, one shy of his career high. Castle had his fourth straight game with 10 assists.
«Yeah, those guys were competing,» Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said of Wembanyama and Castle. «They’re doing a lot of good. We just have to try to navigate some of the peaks and valleys. We’re just having too many lows. There’s still a lot of highs, and we’re doing a lot of good things. But we just need to be more consistent.»
