San Antonio coach Mitch Johnson finally deployed a three-guard lineup featuring De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle, and the Spurs beat the Suns 123-103 in a preseason game on Wednesday. Johnson described the lineup as part of the team’s “natural evolution that will still take time” and said it was “time to push forward appropriately.”
The group made a choppy start. Harper and Castle combined to miss their first five shots before Fox, making his preseason debut, came off the court with 6:57 left in the opening quarter.
By the halftime buzzer, Fox, Harper and Castle had combined for 31 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, helping San Antonio build a 60-49 lead at the break.
Fox drilled a corner three-pointer with one second left to give the Spurs their final points of the first half. Castle scored 18 points, 14 of them from the free-throw line. Harper finished with nine points but drew the loudest reaction from the Frost Bank Center crowd when he caught a Devin Vassell miss and threw down a rim-rocking tip dunk with 34.5 seconds left in the second quarter. Fox also slammed home a poster dunk in the first half.
Wembanyama Reflects on the Start
Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama said the team was trying to do the right things early but struggled to score. “I felt like we were trying to do the right things at the beginning, but we scored so few points,” he said. “When it clicked, it clicked. The biggest thing is I’ve got handlers all around me, guys that we want to put the ball in their hands and pick and roll around me. That makes things easier.”
Fox, Harper and Castle spent a total of 11 minutes on the court together in the opening half, combining for 19 points and finishing with a net rating of plus-10. The trio had played only 69 minutes together all of last season, including 25 in the NBA Finals, and opponents outscored the Spurs by 47 points in those minutes.
By comparison, the Spurs posted a plus-9.4 net rating when Fox and Castle shared the court in the regular season, plus-6.2 with Fox and Harper, and plus-11.0 with Harper and Castle.
Players Embrace the Idea
Fox said the guards discussed the prospect of starting together over the summer in France, when they visited Wembanyama. “Obviously, when we were in the Finals, and just throughout the playoffs, there were times where we all three played together, a lot more than we did throughout the regular season,” Fox said. “But we knew there was a chance that we’d all be starting or at least sharing the court together. We’re all excited for it.”
Johnson had announced before last week’s exhibition opener against the Atlanta Hawks that Fox, Harper and Castle would join Wembanyama and Vassell in the starting lineup. About 20 minutes later, however, Fox arrived at Frost Bank Center feeling general soreness, and the strength and conditioning staff held the veteran guard out. Fox played only the first half against the Suns, spending 18 minutes and 33 seconds on the court.
Johnson Defends the Lineup
Johnson addressed the debate over starting the three guards together. “I understand the narrative around it. I always land on the same reasoning at the very end of it,” he said. “They’re three of our better players. I know the majority of their lives, maybe their highlight tape is typically with the basketball in their hands. But De’Aaron Fox has played with other handlers and played off the ball a ton. Steph Castle won a national championship [at UConn] basically not touching the ball ever for the start of a possession. They’ve done it here. We didn’t do it a lot last year.”
He added: “Dylan was a rookie who couldn’t play more than 20 minutes for half the season [in 2025-26] because he was going to cough up a lung because he wasn’t in shape. I think they can dribble, pass, shoot, defend, make winning plays. They’re unselfish. They have good size.”
Johnson also said the team needs a stronger start to games. “I thought we started the game with some very sloppy possessions, and everybody will have to have a better start to games and a better approach with that,” he said.