AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Stephon Castle scored 20 points, Victor Wembanyama added 17 and the San Antonio Spurs beat the short-handed Phoenix Suns 121-94 on Thursday night for their seventh straight victory.
San Antontio also will face Sacramento on Saturday in Austin, a city the Spurs covet as part of a mega-region that they’ve cultivated for years.
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San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) knocks the ball away from Phoenix Suns forward Oso Ighodaro (11) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Austin, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) drives against Phoenix Suns guard Jordan Goodwin (23) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Austin, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Phoenix Suns guard Jordan Goodwin, left, and San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet, right, scramble for a loose ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Austin, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) drives against San Antonio Spurs guard De'aaron Fox (4) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Austin, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green, right, shoots against San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Austin, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Castle converted 8 of 11 shots from the field and had four assists and three steals in 21 minutes. Wembanyama had 11 rebounds and five blocks while playing 25 minutes. De'Aaron Fox added 15 points and eight assists in 22 minutes.
The Spurs received big contributions from backups Dylan Harper (17 points) and Luke Kornet (10 points, nine rebounds).
Jalen Green, playing in just his eighth game of an injury-plagued season, led Phoenix with 26 points. Mark Williams had 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Suns star Devin Booker played only nine minutes, all early in the game, before leaving with right hip soreness.
Phoenix also was without Dillon Brooks, who served a one-game suspension for receiving his 16th technical foul this season. Suns guard Grayson Allen missed the game with an ankle injury.
The Spurs led 61-49 at halftime, thanks largely to a 13-0 start to the second quarter. Julian Champagnie hit a pair of 3-pointers during that stretch, and Harrison Barnes made a three-point play with a layup and free throw.
San Antonio forged ahead by 22 with a consecutive 3-pointers by Castle, Wembanyama and Devin Vassell in the first four minutes of the second half.
Phoenix: Host Orlando on Saturday.
San Antonio: Host Sacramento in Austin on Saturday.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) knocks the ball away from Phoenix Suns forward Oso Ighodaro (11) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Austin, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) drives against Phoenix Suns guard Jordan Goodwin (23) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Austin, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Phoenix Suns guard Jordan Goodwin, left, and San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet, right, scramble for a loose ball during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Austin, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (1) drives against San Antonio Spurs guard De'aaron Fox (4) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Austin, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Phoenix Suns guard Jalen Green, right, shoots against San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Austin, Texas, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un lauded his nation’s improving economy and regional standing as he opened the country’s most important political event, where he is expected to set his domestic and foreign policy agenda for the next five years and further entrench his family’s authoritarian rule.
The Workers’ Party congress, which will likely run for days in Pyongyang, comes as Kim carves out a more forceful regional presence, leveraging an advancing nuclear arsenal and a growing alignment with Moscow that have deepened his standoffs with Washington and Seoul.
The meeting will likely provide the stage for Kim to unveil his key political and military objectives and further consolidate his authoritarian grip before thousands of ruling party delegates. Some analysts say Kim could also use the congress to position his teenage daughter — believed to be named Kim Ju Ae and about 13 — as a potential successor, formalizing the regime’s fourth-generation succession.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency reported Friday the meeting began the previous day. It did not immediately report any direct comments from Kim on his standoffs with the United States and South Korea or his nuclear weapons program.
Entering his 15th year in power, Kim is in a much stronger position than when he last convened the congress in 2021, when North Korea was experiencing a crippled economy worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic and the wreckage of his failed diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Kim then made a rare admission of economic failures and issued a five-year development plan through 2025, urging economic self-reliance through mass mobilization. He doubled down on his nuclear ambitions and issued a long wish list of sophisticated weapons systems.
Kim now appears less isolated and more confident, buoyed by stronger ties with Russia and China, an extensive nuclear arsenal and what the outside world sees as a gradually improving economy.
In Thursday's speech, Kim claimed the North has made significant progress since 2021, citing economic gains and a firmer regional footing that he said marked an “irreversible” strengthening of the state’s status.
Kim has capitalized on geopolitical turmoil, using Russia’s war in Ukraine as a window to accelerate weapons development and deepen ties with Moscow, providing thousands of troops and large munitions shipments to support President Vladimir Putin’s war effort, possibly in exchange for aid and military technology.
He’s cozying up to China, joining Putin at a World War II ceremony in Beijing last September and holding his first summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in six years — events that backed his efforts to portray the North as part of a united front against Washington.
Kim’s strict information blockade obscures the full picture of North Korea's economy, which remains in a largely impoverished state after decades of policy failures and sanctions.
Still, Lee Jong-kyu, an analyst at South Korea’s Korea Development Institute, estimates the North’s economy grew roughly 10% over the last five years, benefiting from a post-pandemic rebound in trade with China and arms exports to Russia.
“The past five years might be the most productive period for North Korean leadership since the 1950s and 1960s,” said Koh Yu-hwan, former president of Seoul's Institute for National Unification. Reflecting Kim’s confidence, the new congress is unlikely to introduce major shifts in domestic policy and will continue to stress internal unity and self-reliance under another five-year economic plan, Koh said.
North Korea has developed or tested much of the weapons Kim demanded in 2021, including solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missiles and tactical nuclear systems. The country launched its first military satellite in 2023 and has recently claimed progress in building a nuclear-propelled submarine.
After prioritizing nuclear weapons and missiles, Kim is now putting more focus on conventional systems, launching new warships, anti-air weapons and attack drones, while outlining broader plans to integrate nuclear and conventional forces. Kim’s recent comments suggest he will use the congress to emphasize the parallel development of nuclear and conventional systems under a separate five-year plan for military development.
Kim could be drawing lessons from North Korea’s involvement in the conflict in Ukraine, now a conventional war of attrition in which Russia has avoided nuclear weapons. Conventional forces could become a key area of cooperation with Russia, such as improving the North’s aging air-defense systems, experts say.
North Korea has already adopted an escalatory nuclear doctrine that authorizes preemptive strikes if the leadership is deemed under threat. By pushing for the integration of conventional and nuclear forces, Kim aims to blur the distinction between them and signal a lower threshold for nuclear use, heightening the threat to South Korea, analysts say.
Kim has shunned talks with rival South Korea since 2019, when his diplomacy with Trump collapsed over U.S.-led sanctions. Ties worsened after Kim in 2024 discarded North Korea’s long-standing goal of a peaceful unification and declared Seoul a permanent enemy.
Kim is likely to entrench his hard-line view of the South at the congress, possibly by instructing changes to party rules to codify inter-Korean relations as between “two hostile states." While South Korean President Lee Jae Myung desires engagement, it’s highly unlikely that Kim’s stance on Seoul would change anytime soon, Koh said.
It’s clear Kim no longer views Seoul as a useful middleman with Washington, but rather as an obstacle to his efforts to carve out a more assertive role in global affairs. He has also shown sensitivity to South Korean soft power, intensifying a campaign to stamp out the influence of South Korean culture at home to reinforce his family’s dynastic rule.
Kim may take a more measured approach toward Washington to preserve the possibility of future dialogue, with the long-term aim of securing U.S. sanctions relief and tacit recognition as a nuclear state. While Kim has been prioritizing Russia, it would make sense to keep his options open as Putin’s war in Ukraine could wind down, potentially making North Korea less valuable to Moscow, some analysts say.
In this photo provided by the North Korean government, its leader Kim Jong Un attends a military ceremony in Pyongyang, North Korea, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
FILE - In this photo provided by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center left, and his daughter, center right, arrive at the East Pyongyang Grand Theatre in Pyongyang, North Korea, June 29, 2025. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File)
This photo provided on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, center, attends the ruling Workers’ Party Congress in Pyongyang, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
This photo provided on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech during the ruling Workers’ Party Congress in Pyongyang, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
This photo provided on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivers a speech during the ruling Workers’ Party Congress in Pyongyang, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. Korean language watermark on image as provided by source reads: "KCNA" which is the abbreviation for Korean Central News Agency. (Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP)
