The Spurs have been banged up over the first quarter of the season, but there’s good news on that front. The team says both Stephon Castle and Luke Kornet are questionable for Monday’s game in New Orleans.

And according to Jeff McDonald of the Express News, Victor Wembanyama was also back on the court during practice Sunday in New Orleans.

Head Coach Mitch Johnson is still keeping things close to the vest and is not saying when Wemby could return to game action, but the good news is they’re seeing progress.

“They’re all progressing on the court. They’re all continuing to, I guess you could say, elevate the kind of amount of live that they can do. You got to do that and then see how you respond and react and so on and so forth. But it’s definitely progressing in all training, in the right direction,” explained Spurs Coach Mitch Johnson. “There’s just a ripple effect, obviously, and you start this guy, but then you got to bring someone off the bench, and what’s the groups and combination you’ve been playing with? And obviously, we’ve had a lot of change lately, but this is a little bit newer, even for us, than what we’ve had recently.”

To be clear, Wembanyama will not play Monday night against the Pelicans, but we could see the return of Steph Castle taking on a New Orleans team which has lost six games in a row.

Then the Spurs travel back to Los Angeles and will face the Lakers in the Nba Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday night.

THE MATCHUP

San Antonio Spurs (15-7, fifth in the Western Conference) vs. New Orleans Pelicans (3-21, 15th in the Western Conference)

New Orleans; Monday, 7 p.m. CST

The Pelicans are 1-18 in Western Conference games. New Orleans is 1-2 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

The Spurs are 6-0 against opponents from the Southwest Division. San Antonio is seventh in the Western Conference with 44.6 rebounds per game led by Keldon Johnson averaging 6.5.

The Pelicans are shooting 45.3% from the field this season, 1.3 percentage points lower than the 46.6% the Spurs allow to opponents. The Spurs are shooting 48.5% from the field, 1.3% lower than the 49.8% the Pelicans’ opponents have shot this season.

The teams meet for the third time this season. The Spurs won 126-119 in the last matchup on Nov. 9.

TOP PERFORMERS

Derik Queen is shooting 48.0% and averaging 12.0 points for the Pelicans. Trey Murphy III is averaging 23.0 points over the last 10 games.

Devin Vassell is scoring 16.2 points per game with 3.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists for the Spurs. De’Aaron Fox is averaging 25.0 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 47.4% over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES

Pelicans: 1-9, averaging 117.8 points, 44.0 rebounds, 25.7 assists, 9.3 steals and 3.9 blocks per game while shooting 46.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 125.1 points per game.

Spurs: 7-3, averaging 119.4 points, 43.2 rebounds, 25.2 assists, 8.4 steals and 4.2 blocks per game while shooting 47.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 117.2 points.

INJURIES

Pelicans: Herbert Jones: day to day (calf), Dejounte Murray: out (leg), Zion Williamson: out (abductor), Jordan Poole: day to day (quad).

Spurs: Luke Kornet: day to day (ankle), Jordan McLaughlin: day to day (hamstring), Victor Wembanyama: out (calf), Stephon Castle: day to day (hip).