Stephon Castle produced his fifth career triple-double with 19 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds to lead a balanced San Antonio attack as the host Spurs defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 115-102 on Monday.
The Spurs played the second half without star center Victor Wembanyama, who sat out with a left rib contusion suffered in a second-quarter collision with the 76ers’ Paul George.
San Antonio (60-19) has now won 12 of its past 13 outings after having an 11-game winning streak snapped in Denver on Sunday. The Spurs are still alive for the top seed in the West and in the league but would have to win their remaining three games (all at home) and have top-ranked Oklahoma City lose three of its final four contests to attain that goal.
Wembanyama and Dylan Harper added 17 points each for San Antonio, with De’Aaron Fox and Keldon Johnson hitting for 13 apiece and Luke Kornet scoring 10.
The 76ers (43-36) dropped their second straight game and slipped to seventh place in the East.
Joel Embiid’s 34 points and 12 rebounds paced the 76ers, who also got 16 points from George, 15 from Tyrese Maxey and 14 by VJ Edgecombe.
The Spurs led by seven points at halftime after a physical first half that saw plenty of fur flying. One that was the worse for the wear was Wembanyama, who went to the locker room twice in the second quarter but finished the half on the floor.
Even without Wembanyama, San Antonio built its lead to as many as 11 points in third quarter before a late 76ers rally, capped by a reverse layup by Maxey with 50 seconds left, culled the deficit to 87-85.
San Antonio scored the final five points of the third period and then 10 of the first 14 in the fourth to extend its advantage to 13 points. The 76ers got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
The Spurs led 29-28 after a physical first quarter. San Antonio eventually expanded its lead to as many as eight points before a George free throw with 16.2 seconds to play forced the Spurs to settle for a 62-55 advantage at the break.
Embiid led all scorers in the first half with 20 points, while George added 13 for Philadelphia. Wembanyama’s 17 points paced the Spurs before halftime as Castle amassed 10 points, six rebounds and six assists.
