Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama, Stephon Castle out vs. Blazers

Spurs stars Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle were ruled out for Wednesday's home game against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Both had been listed as doubtful. Wembanyama has a left rib contusion from a collision with Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George that caused him to miss the second half of Monday's 115-102 win.

Castle posted his fifth career triple-double vs. Philadelphia with 19 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds, but is dealing with right knee soreness.

Wembanyama, an MVP candidate and the favorite to be named NBA Defensive Player of the Year, needs to play at least 20 minutes in one of the team's last three games to reach the 65-game threshold for postseason award consideration.

ESPN reported Tuesday night that the third-year star, who leads the team in points (24.8) and rebounds (11.5) and leads the league in blocks (3.1), is day-to-day and likely to return for at least one of the final three games.

Castle is third on the team with 16.8 points per game.

The Spurs (60-19) are almost certainly locked into the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference. They're three games back of Oklahoma City with three games left, needing to win out and needing the Thunder to lose out.