Castle’s 40-point triple-double propels Spurs to 4th straight win

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Stephon Castle’s monster outing steered the San Antonio Spurs to their fourth straight NBA regular-season victory as they decimated the Dallas Mavericks, 138-125, on Feb. 8, 2026, at the Frost Bank Center.

The athletic guard was a force to be reckoned with after recording his second career triple-double, tallying 40 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists in the lopsided win.

Castle didn’t lose a step from his past win over Dallas, where he also impressed with an all-around effort of 18 markers, seven boards, six dimes, and three steals.

His first career triple-double was against the Golden State Warriors on Nov. 12, 2025, where he recorded 23 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. However, the outcome wasn’t the same as San Antonio lost the thrilling matchup, 120-125.

Castle was an enforcer in a guard’s body as the 21-year-old product of the University of Connecticut was all over the place collecting second-chance possessions while also navigating through Dallas’ adjusted defensive strategy to find the open Devin Vassell and De’Aaron Fox in the corners.

His amped-up do-it-all energy became infectious as the boys in silver and black capped off the first half with a 14-point lead, 81-67.

The combo guard’s offensive highlight came mostly in the second half, when he spearheaded San Antonio’s 22-6 scoring outburst that extended the Spurs’ cushion to 28 points.

During that insane San Antonio scoring spree, Castle shouldered 13 points alone, derived from four successive daredevil drives to the basket, wrapped up by a long 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Castle could’ve registered more stats in the fourth quarter, but head coach Mitch Johnson decided to pull him out of the rotation due to the massive lead they notched in the final five minutes of the final frame.

Aside from Castle, the 1-2 punch of Vassell and Victor Wembanyama also delivered for the Spurs, with the shooting guard chipping in 17 points and six assists while the MVP candidate had another double-double of 16 markers and 11 rebounds.

On the other hand, the Mavericks dropped their seventh consecutive NBA regular-season game and have not won in two weeks. They will have the chance to redeem themselves on Feb. 11, 2026, when they head to Phoenix and face the Suns on the road.

Minimal fixes made: Changed “their past win” to “his past win” for pronoun agreement, added a comma after “same” for smoother syntax, hyphenated “amped-up,” removed an unnecessary comma after “possessions,” and changed “three-pointer” to “3-pointer” for standard sports usage.