The Spurs lead the season against their in-state foes, 3-0. Will Wemby play?
SAN ANTONIO — There are only two games left in the San Antonio Spurs’ regular season before they embark on their first playoff journey since 2019.
The 61-19 Spurs have clinched the No. 2 seed in the playoffs and will await the No. 7 seed that emerges from the Play-In Tournament next week.
With their seed now locked, there’s not much left for the Spurs to play for—except satisfying Victor Wembanyama’s 65-game requirement for year-end awards, which remains a hurdle after the All-Star suffered a rib contusion Monday against the 76ers.
He sat out Wednesday’s game over visiting Portland and is officially questionable to play Friday. Stephon Castle is also questionable.
Asked Wednesday evening about Wemby’s status, head coach Mitch Johnson said he’s “improved quite a bit.”
“I don’t think it’s a long-term concern, but we’ll obviously be very cautions with the situation and circumstances we’re under,” Johnson said.
CBS Sports currently has Wemby at 64 games, counting the NBA Cup, with two games against the Mavs and Nuggets to go. That means he needs to play at least 20 minutes in one of those games to be eligible for awards as players must play 65 games to be considered.
If he doesn’t suit up, Wembanyama would have to play against a physical Denver Nuggets team in Sunday’s regular-season finale in order to be considered for individual hardware.
If he doesn’t play the league-mandated 65 games, that changes a lot. He’s expected to finish at least top-three in MVP voting, which would mean he would make his first All-NBA team in his career. He’s also the favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year for the first time; if he’s ineligible, a completely different player would win that award.
While normally, at this portion in the season, teams would rest their best players now that they can’t move in the standings, Wemby may have to play in one of these last two games if he wants some accolades this season.
As for who the Spurs play Friday, Rookie of the Year frontrunner Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks are coming to town as these two in-state rivals play their fourth and final game of the season.
It’s been a forgettable yet hopeful season for Dallas, which currently sits at 25-55 with no chance at the playoffs, but is also rostering one of the best teenage players to ever hit an NBA court.
Flagg is having one of the greatest rookie seasons of all time, currently averaging 21 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks while shooting 46.7% from the field.
And he’s only gotten better as the season has gone on. In his last 10 games, Flagg has tallied 26.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, five assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.7 steals a game. Late last week, Flagg scored 51 and 45 in back-to-back games, becoming the first rookie to do so since Allen Iverson in 1997… nine years before Flagg was born.
Oh yeah, did we mention Flagg just turned 19 in December?
It’s a season reminiscent of Wemby’s rookie season, when the Frenchman averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.6 blocks en route to winning Rookie of the Year honors. Like Spurs fans did for Wemby, Mavs fans are flagging Flagg as “the next big thing,” no pun intended. Flagg’s potential has likely served as a bit of a consolation prize after former Dallas GM Nico Harrison traded current MVP candidate Luka Doncic to the Lakers last season (too soon?).
It also means that the State of Texas is going to be home to many young stars for the foreseeable future: The Spurs have Wemby and Stephon Castle, the Mavs have Flagg, and even the Rockets have Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard.
The Western Conference could run through Texas in the foreseeable future.
But not this year, as the Mavs are nowhere close to the playoffs. They occupy the No. 13 seed, a far cry from their 2024 NBA Finals appearance that seems so long ago now.
Three of their losses have been against the Spurs: a domination in the first game of the season and two more modest wins by 12 and 13 points, respectively, in February.
In those games, Wembanyama has been great. He kicked off the season by dropping 40 points and 15 rebounds against the Mavs. In three games, he’s averaging 28.3 points, 12.3 rebounds and three blocks a game over Dallas.
Wemby isn’t the only one who likes seeing Dallas on his calendar. Stephon Castle’s last game against the Mavs was a 40-point triple double on Feb. 7. Against the Mavs in three games, he’s averaging 26.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, and eight assists on ridiculous shooting splits of 70.5% from the field and 45.5% from 3-point range.
Castle’s status for Friday is also up in the air after sitting out Wednesday.
The aforementioned Flagg hasn’t performed as well against San Antonio, having his stats dip to 18.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists a game. Flagg did have a 32-point game against the Spurs in a Feb. 5 loss, however.
With the chance that Wemby and Castle will miss another game, the Mavericks have an opportunity to take at least one of the four matchups this season.
But if we know the 2025-26 Spurs, they won’t make it easy—even without arguably their two best players.
How to watch
The game will be televised on FanDuel Southwest at 7 p.m. CT Friday. You can also listen to game action on WOAI 1200 and KXTN 1350.
Team stats leaders
- POINTS: Victor Wembanyama* (24.8), De’Aaron Fox (18.5), Stephon Castle* (16.8)
- REBOUNDS: Wembanyama* (11.5), Luke Kornet (6.1), Julian Champagnie (5.8)
- ASSISTS: Castle* (7.4), Fox (6.1), Dylan Harper (3.9)
- BLOCKS: Wembanyama* (3.1), Kornet (1.0), Champagnie (0.4)
- POINTS: Cooper Flagg (21.0), Naji Marshall* (15.2), P.J. Washington* (14.2)
- REBOUNDS: Marvin Bagley (7.1), Washington* (7.0), Daniel Gafford* (6.9)
- ASSISTS: Ryan Nembhard (4.9), Flagg (4.6), Brandon Williams* (3.9)
- BLOCKS: Dereck Lively (1.6), Gafford* (1.2), Washington* (1.1)
Injury report
As of Thursday afternoon, here’s where the team’s respective injury reports stack up (subject to change):
- No report submitted.
- Brandon Williams – Doubtful (Illness)
- P.J. Washington – Doubtful (Elbow)
- Naji Marshall – Doubtful (Hip)
Five more things to know
- Without Wembanyama and Castle, De’Aaron Fox led the way in the Spurs’ last win vs. Portland with 25 points and seven assists. In 17 games without Wemby this season, Fox averages 24.6 points and 6.3 assists.
- Since trading Anthony Davis on Feb. 4, the Mavs have a record of 6-24, tied for fourth-worst in the league.
- The Mavericks hit the second-fewest amount of 3-pointers in the league at 10.8 a game. In turn, Dallas also shoots the second-worst as a team from the 3-point line at 34.1%.
- Dallas has fouled the least out of any team this season, only fouling 18.3 times a game.
- The Mavs only shoot 75.3% from the free throw line this season, third-worst in the league.