The two reserves helped spark the Spurs to Wednesday night's 126-111 win over Dallas with their energy off the bench.
Hustle plays by the Spurs bench, included a pair of beauties from Keldon Johnson and Julian Champagnie , helped spark the Spurs to their 126-116 win over the Mavericks on Wednesday night. Johnson was at his energetic best with under 4 minutes left in the third quarter with a sequence that began with him Euro -stepping his way to a finger-roll layup that gave the Spurs an 86-81 lead and ended with him diving for a steal that eventually led to a Devin Vassell 3-pointer that pushed the lead to eight points.
Johnson, who leads the NBA in bench scoring since the All-Star break with a 16.6 average over 11 games, finished with 18 points, five rebounds and two assists in 17 minutes. “I feel as though I've been playing pretty well, pretty consistent, but my energy has been consistent,” Johnson said. “That's been the main thing.” Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan, who also finished with 18 points off the bench in 24 minutes, called Johnson the Spurs 'energy guy.' READ MORE: Spurs pull car prank on rookie star Castle 'He's always going to bring that, whether he's feeling not well or he's feeling well,' Sochan said. 'And I think that's the blessing we have as a team, as an organization, as the fans, to see that every day. Just his effort and just his pride. It's amazing to see and it gets us going too.' Said Johnson, 'When I bring energy, it's contagious to my teammates and overall we are a better team.' In the fourth quarter, it was Champagnie's turn to give the Spurs an boost. Hitting the floor to chase down a steal near midcourt, he corraled the ball before passing ahead to Fox, who then dished to Johnson for a dunk that gave the Spurs a 14-point advantage with 10:11 left. Champagnie seven points, two rebounds and two steals in 18 minutes. “Those are winning plays, plays that are great team uplifting moments,” acting Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “They just give energy to the rest of the team.” Veterans prank star rookie Spurs guard Stephon Castle may be the leading candidate to win rookie of the year, but that doesn't mean he's immune from getting pranked by his older teammates. De'Aaron Fox and other veterans got a good laugh at Castle's expense after he discovered the wheels had been removed from his sports car at the Frost Bank Center's players parking lot during Wednesday night's 126-116 win over Dallas. Since joining the Spurs from Sacramento in a three-team trade Feb. 3, Fox has jokingly complained that the 20-year-old Castle has been shirking his rookie duties, a right of passage for first-year players that basically boils down to being at the beck and call of the vets. 'Steph does absolutely nothing,' Fox said when asked about the prank. 'So you deserved it, for sure. Something needed to happen. I'm like, does he bring anything to the plane? Does he bring any food, snacks? The least he could do is pass the shoes out at shootaround.' Jeremy Sochan, who is just a year older than Castle but is in his third NBA season, called the prank 'hilarious.' 'I was there. I had to see that,' Sochan said with a smile. 'Castle was a little shocked, at a loss for words. But it happens. It didn't happen to me, though.' Sochan said he thought Sandro Mamukelashvili might have had a hand in the removal of the wheels. 'I think Sandro was the main culprit for that, but I don't know how he did it,' Sochan said. 'I remember before the game we were shooting and he was like, 'Look. Behind the bench. Those guys are going to take Steph's wheels.' I'm like, 'What are you talking about?' He's like, 'Just wait.' And then it happened.' Several of the vets recalled getting through their rookie seasons without being pranked because they were always ready to follow orders from 'their vets.' 'If they wanted me at 3 a.m., I would be up,' Bismack Biyombo said. Said Fox, 'I was a great rookie. Steph doesn't do anything. He doesn't do any rookie duties, which is crazy.' Fox first busted Castle's chops about coming up short on his rookie duties after the fourth overall pick scored a season-high 33 points in a loss at Charlotte on Feb. 7. 'I'm like, damn, I walked in here and thought my towel was going to be on the chair,' Fox said with a smile in the locker room after just his second game with the Spurs. 'And at my first shootaround, Steph didn't have the shoes ready. So, I'm like, what are the rookies doing around here?' Chances are, Castle might do a better job after losing his wheels.
De'aaron Fox Hustle Mavericks NBA Frost Bank Center Keldon Johnson Jeremy Sochan Stephon Castle Julian Champagnie Mitch Johnson Steph Sandro Mamukelashvili All-Star Devin Vassell Bismack Biyombo Euro Dallas Sacramento Charlotte Castle
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