Photo by Ronald Cortes/Getty Images Barbacoa should be served every day, not just on weekends. Let’s take a moment and savor this very important win by the Spurs. Sure, it’s just the ninth game of the regular season in year two of the Victor Wembanyama Experience. But it’s a rare, serendipitous win that happens to coincide with my name being assigned to the Google shared sheet for this game. I honestly don’t remember the last time I wrote an article for a Spurs win. And boy, what a win. Everyone contributed, and everyone got a bucket. You get a bucket, Zach Collins gets a bucket, if your last name starts with a “w” and ends with a “y,” you get a bucket. OK, if your last name starts with a “w” and rhymes with jambalaya, you get a bucket too! Eight Spurs scored in the double digits with a season-high 35 total assists in the game. Sharing is caring. The bench, in particular, provided an offensive spark and kept the Spurs in control for most of the game. Keldon Johnson and Malaki Branham led the team with 17 points apiece, while Blake Wesley racked up a team-high 8 assists. Wembanyama continued to bully the offense with 4 steals and 3 blocks for the night. Team season-high in assists Team season-high in threes Team dub ✅ pic.twitter.com/hUwmiBeuXe— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 8, 2024 Rookie Stephon Castle also had a big night, scoring a career-high 14 points (for now) in his second start of the season. Castle ran the offense alongside Chris Paul and was able to find points and teammates (6 assists) at the rim. The first-year player definitely passes the eye test as he plays big, especially down low against other guards. I’m sorry, but I’m still trying to get used to “FanDuel Sports Network Southwest.” What a world we live in now. What’s next? ESPN has its own sportsboo . . . ah never mind. This Stephon Castle kid though. I’m excited to see his growth. The threes aren’t quite falling in yet, but his game is fun to watch. I’m also convinced Tim Duncan was in PATFO’s ear about drafting the young Husky. Timmay: “OK OK we have to draft this kid from Connecticut.” Pop: “Oh yeah? What do you like about his draft profile?” Timmay: (looking aghast at Pop the way he used to look at Joey Crawford) “His last name is Castle. Meaning we can draft him. Convince him to change his name to Frank, make Sean Elliott scream, ‘Here comes the Punisher barreling down the lane!’ every time he has the ball. Win. Win.” Pop: “How much coffee did you drink this morning?” Timmay (distracted): “Hey, you think the NBA will let us put a big skull on the front of the jerseys for the city editions next year? We already have the black and white color scheme.” KING OF THE CASTLE @Spurs | #GoSpursGo #PorVida pic.twitter.com/YoqT1y4tOU— Spurs On FanDuel Sports Network Southwest (@FanDuelSN_Spurs) November 8, 2024 Shot selection schmot schelection. Give me one of these deep daggers by Wembanyama any day of the week. As long as they go in of course. The splendid sophomore is only shooting 22.6% from three this season, but something tells me the Spurs are letting him feel it out and naturally learn his spots or when to take threes. What do you call it? It’s the opposite of red light, but not yellow light. I can’t think of it right now, but I’ll get back to you. W3MBY! pic.twitter.com/u2SXsvOv9p— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 8, 2024 Green light! Oh mama what a dunk! What were we talking about again? The election? (audible groan from the audience) I’m kidding. We were talking about whether Disney can recapture the magic of the Daredevil series previously made by Netflix. But if you’re not a fan of Vincent D’Onofrio then I can’t help you, and I guess we’ll go back to talking about basketball. The good thing is that the Spurs won a game without a huge night from Wembanyama. He certainly affects the game just by stepping a foot on the floor, but getting contributions from everyone was a great boon. OH MAMA. pic.twitter.com/G3nNNE0Xa7— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 8, 2024 Blake Wesley and Zach Collins made their mark in this game, particularly on this play where Wesley found Collins for an easy dunk. Wesley was near perfect for the night, going 4 - 4 from the field, 2 -2 from the charity stripe, while adding 8 dimes and 2 swipes. THE DISH. THE DUNK. pic.twitter.com/N2bplxKec3— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 8, 2024 Collins immediately reciprocated Wesley’s kindness and found number 14 for the crowd-pleasing dunk. Collins had his best game of the season, chipping in 14 points and garnering a +/- of 20 in his very brief 15 minutes on the court. BLAKE BRINGING THE ENERGY ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/oGmjRKupzb— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 8, 2024 Wesley being a pest once again with 1 out of his 2 steals for the night here as he takes the pick the other way for a quick two. Number 14 provided boundless energy all night, setting the tone for the bench mob and an appropriately balanced flow for the entire game. There goes Blake! pic.twitter.com/fKiuaVCUgI— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 8, 2024 Long live the king! Bring him the finest barbacoa and Big Red in all the land. We declare 410 East his domain. Please be kind and let others merge when driving on the highway. KING OF THE CASTLE pic.twitter.com/MmB94hePC5— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 8, 2024 This dish by Castle to a cutting Harrison Barnes was savvy play by a rookie showing off his court vision. Very exciting to see him continue to run this offense. Signing Chris Paul to mentor Castle is such a good move in the clarity of hindsight. Just don’t show the kid any clips from the 2015 playoffs against the Clippers. The scars are still fresh. gettin' fancy with it pic.twitter.com/QWV0tFXI8P— San Antonio Spurs (@spurs) November 8, 2024 If you missed the game because you were too busy putting up Christmas decorations (way too early IMO), here are the full-game highlights: Next up, the Spurs host the Utah Jazz on Saturday, November 9, 2024.