NBA: Stephon Castle's huge game helps Spurs complete mini-sweep of Mavs

Stephon Castle scored a career-high 40 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, and dished out 12 assists as the San Antonio Spurs pulled away for a 138-125 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday in the second game of a three-day home-and-home series.

The Spurs swept the series, having defeated Dallas 135-123 in Thursday’s opener, and extended their winning streak to four games. Dallas, meanwhile, started a six-game road trip on a sour note, suffering its season-worst seventh consecutive loss and dropping all three matchups against San Antonio this year.

San Antonio used a late-second-quarter surge to build an 81-67 halftime lead and expanded the margin in the third quarter, going up by 24 points when Castle grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup with 4:58 remaining. The Spurs led by as many as 28 points before taking a 114-91 advantage into the fourth quarter.

Castle made 15 of 19 shots to record his second career triple-double. Devin Vassell added 17 points, while Victor Wembanyama finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. De’Aaron Fox scored 15 points, and bench players Dylan Harper and Carter Bryant contributed 11 points each.

For Dallas, Klay Thompson led with 19 points, followed by Brandon Williams with 18. Max Christie scored 17, Marvin Bagley III recorded 16 points and 12 rebounds, Caleb Martin had 11, and P.J. Washington added 10. Rookie Cooper Flagg scored 14 points, snapping a four-game streak of 30-plus point performances, and did not play in the fourth quarter.

The Spurs controlled the first quarter, building an 11-point lead on a three-point play by Vassell at the 6:42 mark and carrying a 39-32 advantage into the second quarter. Dallas briefly took the lead with a 6-0 run capped by Martin’s driving layup with 8:27 remaining in the second period. San Antonio responded with a 13-3 run over a late two-minute stretch to turn a six-point deficit into an 81-65 lead at halftime.

Castle led all scorers with 21 points in the first half, while Thompson paced Dallas with 16 points.

—Field Level Media/Reuters