San Antonio — Spurs coach Mitch Johnson finally deployed a three-guard lineup featuring De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle, and the group helped San Antonio 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,” adding that it’s “time to push forward appropriately.”
A choppy start, then a lead
The three-guard group struggled early. Harper and Castle combined to miss their first five shots, and Fox, making his preseason debut, subbed out with 6:57 left in the opening quarter.
The trio recovered in the first half. By the time the buzzer sounded for intermission, Fox, Harper and Castle had combined for 31 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, helping the Spurs take a 60-49 halftime lead.
Fox hit a corner three with one second left in the half for San Antonio’s final points of the first half. Castle scored 18 points, including 14 from the free throw line. Harper finished with nine points and drew the loudest cheers from the Frost Bank Center crowd when he caught a Devin Vassell miss and tipped it in for a rim-rocking dunk with 34.5 seconds left in the second quarter. Fox also slammed home a poster dunk in the first half.
Johnson was pleased with the lineup’s chemistry but not with the start. “I’m glad they got to play some together and we got some reps out there,” he said. “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.”
Wembanyama sees the upside
Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama said the team had been trying to do the right things early but scored too few points. “When it clicked, it clicked,” he said. “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.”
Minutes and numbers
Fox, Harper and Castle spent a combined 11 minutes on the court together in the opening half, producing 19 points and finishing with a net rating of plus-10. Last season, the three played only 69 minutes together, including 25 in the NBA Finals, and opponents outscored the Spurs by 47 points in those minutes.
In the regular season, the Spurs posted a plus-9.4 net rating when Fox and Castle shared the court, plus-6.2 with Fox and Harper, and plus-11.0 with Harper and Castle.
Fox said the guards talked over the summer, when they visited Wembanyama in France, about the possibility of starting together. “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.”
A planned start, then a change
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 Spurs’ strength and conditioning staff held the veteran guard out. He played only the first half against the Suns, logging 18 minutes and 33 seconds.
Johnson defended the decision to start the three guards. “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 also pointed to Harper’s development. “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.”