Stephon Castle's Third Triple-Double, Rockets Call Up Tristen Newton Again
Stephon Castle
Castle may have just put together the best two-game stretch of his young NBA career. In the San Antonio Spurs’ 136–131 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Thursday, the reigning NBA Rookie of the Year recorded his third triple-double of the season, scoring 30 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-8 from three and 12-of-13 from the free-throw line. The four triples matched a season high, while the 12 made free throws set a new career high.
As for an encore, the 21-year old posted his 13th double-double of the season in the Spurs’ 115–102 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday. The former Husky finished with 15 points on 5-of-11 shooting, including 1-of-3 from beyond the arc and 4-of-4 from the line, while adding 10 assists and seven rebounds in 26 minutes.
After the win against the Hornets, his superstar teammate Victor Wembanyama talked about Castle's recent play and said, "He 100% deserved to the number one pick (of the 2024 NBA Draft), but I'm so glad he wasn't."
Victor, so are UConn fans.
Donovan Clingan
Keeping the double-double theme going as Clingan picked up his 33rd and 34th double-doubles of the season this past Friday and Sunday. DC turned in one of his best performances of the season Friday against the Jazz, finishing with 21 points, 15 rebounds, a season-high six blocks, and tying a career-high three steals in a 124–114 win.
Then on Sunday, he finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds along with three blocks, five assists, and zero turnovers in a 109-103 loss to the Philadlphia 76ers. It marks the third time this season (and the fourth time in his career) that Clingan has recorded at least five assists without committing a turnover in a game.
Tristen Newton
The Houston Rockets recalled Tristen Newton from the Rio Grande Valley Vipers this past Thursday, his second call-up in as many months. Newton did not appear in a game during his previous stint with Houston in February, which largely came during the All-Star break.
On Friday, Newton dressed but did not play in his first game back with the Rockets as he saw Kevin Durant knocked down a jumper with under 10 seconds left to take down Jordan Hawkins and the Pelicans 107-105.
Newton does have three career NBA points as he scored his first career bucket last season with the Indiana Pacers.
Tyrese Martin/Andre Drummond
The 76ers played three games over the last four days, and Martin logged a total of 14 minutes across those games. Martin scored two points in nine minutes on Thursday in the 76ers 131-109 loss to the Detroit Pistons.
Martin did not play Saturday against his former team, the Brooklyn Nets, in the Philadelphia 76ers’ 104–97 win. He returned to the floor on Sunday, playing five minutes without scoring in the 76ers 109-103 victory over the Trail Blazers. Meanwhile, his fellow two-way players, Mar’Jon Beauchamp and Dalen Terry, saw considerably more playing time. Beauchamp played in all three games, averaging 19.3 minutes per contest, and scored a season-high 17 points in 31 minutes against the Detroit Pistons. Terry appeared in two of the three games, totaling 11 points in 43 minutes of action.
As for Drummond, he missed Thursday and Saturday’s games with back spasms but returned Sunday against the Portland Trail Blazers, logging 35 minutes off the bench. He scored six points, pulled down a game-high 17 rebounds, and added four assists and two steals. It marked the second time this month that Drummond has played at least 30 minutes.
Cam Spencer
After sitting out Thursday’s 120–112 loss to the Dallas Mavericks with a sore lower back, Spencer returned to the Memphis Grizzlies’ starting lineup Friday night and scored 19 points in Grizzlies’ 126–110 loss to the Detroit Pistons.Spencer connected on a pair of three-pointers while dishing out five more assists with zero turnovers. It marked the 38th time in 63 games this season that Spencer made at least two three-pointers.
Samson Johnson (G League)
In 99 career games at the University of Connecticut, Samson Johnson recorded five assists in a game just once (last season in UConn’s 68–63 loss to Creighton). Since Wednesday, he has reached that mark in three straight games.
The 6-foot-10 big man also combined for 22 points in two games against the Westchester Knicks (New York Knicks’ G League affiliate) over the weekend, including 14 on Saturday in the Noblesville Boom’s 141–115 victory. It was the 13th time Johnson scored in double figures this season.
James Bouknight (G League)
Saturday was a historic day for James Bouknight and the Mexico City Capitanes (No NBA G League affiliate), as they clinched their second G League playoff berth in franchise history. Bouknight finished with 14 points, six rebounds, and four assists in the Capitanes’ 125–122 win over the Memphis Hustle (Memphis Grizzlies’ G League affiliate).
At 22–9, the Mexico City Capitanes currently sit a half-game behind the Western Conference-leading South Bay Lakers (Los Angeles Lakers’ G League affilate). The top eight teams in both the Eastern and Western conferences qualify for the postseason, which begins March 31.
Bouknight has been a vital part of the Capitanes success as the former Husky has played in all 31 games (30 starts) and leads the team in points per game (20.6) and three-point field goal percentage (44.3%).
Jordan Hawkins
Hawkins remained on the bench via a coach’s decision in the Pelicans’ 107–105 loss to the Houston Rockets on Friday night. The 2023 First Team All-Big East selection has appeared in just seven of the Pelicans’ last 23 games and hasn’t logged double-digit minutes in nearly two months, last playing 13 minutes on January 18th against Houston. He hasn’t played in the first half of a game since February 20th.
Andre Jackson Jr.
Jackson Jr. saw four minutes of action in the final moments of the Milwaukee Bucks 122-99 loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday. He scored two points on this put back dunk:
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