Starters Stephon Castle and Victor Wembanyama were left behind when the San Antonio Spurs boarded a plane Tuesday night to begin a three-game road trip.
While neither player will be available to face the Orlando Magic on Wednesday, both could return to the lineup as soon as Dec. 10, when San Antonio plays an NBA Cup quarterfinals game against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Castle has missed the past seven games with a left hip flexor strain, while Wembanyama has been out eight games due to a left calf strain.
San Antonio improved to 6-2 without Wembanyama with a 126-119 home win over the visiting Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday. Harrison Barnes scored 31 points and De’Aaron Fox added 29 to lead the Spurs.
Barnes was 10-of-20 shooting from the field with a season-high seven 3-pointers in the victory.
“Obviously, we can’t replace what (Wembanyama) brings to the game on both sides of the floor,” Barnes said, “but I think just winning with different lineups gives a different confidence to a group that what we’re doing as a collective is the right path.”
While the Spurs will be playing the second game of a back-to-back, Orlando had a day off after beating the visiting Chicago Bulls 125-120 on Monday.
Desmond Bane scored 37 points and Franz Wagner added 25 to lead the Magic, who trailed by as many as 15 in the third quarter.
Third-year guard Anthony Black has emerged as a key reserve for Orlando, which has won three in a row and nine of its past 11 games.
Black is averaging 13.4 points on 48.1% shooting from the field and 34.7% from 3-point range. He played 34 minutes off the bench in Monday’s win and scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half.
“(Black) absolutely was great in that second half,” Magic coach Jamahl Mosley said. “He decided to turn it up, attacking the basket, getting stops, leading out on the break, stepping into his shot with confidence … all those are little pieces that we’ve continued to ask him to do.”
Orlando has won its past four meetings against San Antonio, which is receiving contributions throughout the lineup while waiting for Castle and Wembanyama to return.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said the team is playing to the high standards that were set in the preseason.
“The way we want to play is how we want to play,” Johnson said. “It’s quite demanding — physically, mentally and emotionally of what we ask from them — and we’re not going to compromise that.”
A similar standard also has been set by Orlando, which will be without star Paolo Banchero (left groin strain) for the 10th straight game on Wednesday.
Bane has scored 35-plus points in consecutive games to help the Magic fill the scoring void left by Banchero’s absence. He is averaging 19.2 points while shooting 93.4% from the foul line.
Orlando has gone 12-4 since losing four of its first five games to begin the season.
“We have to continue to grow,” Mosley said. “That’s the big key with what we’re trying to do, focusing on the process of how we’re trying to play. Our guys are recognizing and learning how to win no matter what it costs.”
–Field Level Media
