SAN ANTONIO — The most telling part of Stephon Castle’s thunderous dunk over Isaiah Hartenstein in Wednesday’s Game 2 of the Western Conference finals happened before he bounced off the invisible trampoline. Before he suspended in the air like a rhetorical question. Before he cocked it back and flushed it with disrespect.
It came after he took the pass from Victor Wembanyama and used a jab step to lose Oklahoma City Thunder guard Cason Wallace. After he saw the lane wide open and a 7-footer sliding in front of the rim. That’s when Castle revealed his mindset.
He chose aggression. He preferred a collision.
Castle makes midrange jumpers reliably, and the open 15-footer whispered, “easy 2.” But the way he’s wired screamed, “go hard.” So he went for the haymaker and punched on the 7-footer.
“He’s quiet,” San Antonio Spurs point guard De’Aaron Fox said earlier in these playoffs, “but as soon as we step out on the court, his game speaks. And he’s loud while he’s out there.”
That play, the decision that spawned it, explains Castle. Defines him. The points came secondary to the point he wanted to make. Castle instinctively seeks out opportunities to impose himself. The 6-foot-6, 215-pound guard consistently chooses the more physical option, the most difficult route. Because he was raised to understand that winning requires being felt.
His approach isn’t situational or driven by momentum. It’s how he plays every possession. It’s how he sees the game. Sometimes, it gets him in trouble. At least seven of his NBA record 20 turnovers over two playoff games were a product of him driving into traffic, forcing his way into the action, and losing the ball or making a bad pass at the end of his drive.
“Just really speeding myself up,” Castle said, explaining his turnovers. Later adding, “I’ve got to be better and cleaner. … I have to take my time a lot more on the offensive end. Try and make the simple read as much as I can.”
Discretion, indeed, is the better part of valor. But Castle’s bent helps shape the way the Spurs defend, compete and respond.
After losing Game 2, as the Thunder responded to the double-overtime thriller in Game 1, the Spurs know they’re in for a fight. Oklahoma City comes to Frost Bank Center for Friday’s Game 3 with the swagger of champions and the urgency of a team that squandered home-court advantage. Led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who found his groove on Wednesday.
This series only figures to get harder. The physicality is approaching 1990s levels. The length and athleticism on both sides make scoring an obstacle course. With all the skill, and the advanced tactical abilities on both benches, winning this series, earning a trip to the NBA Finals, could come down to execution and the resolve to do so.
What San Antonio has going for it is Castle’s preference for the battle. Wembanyama is the superstar, the face of the franchise and the reason the Spurs’ championship hopes are real. And the 21-year-old Castle is who any opponent must go through first. He’s the perfect complement to Wembanyama because he’s the pitbull on the perimeter who takes the toughest assignment. And he’s perfectly fine walking down the proverbial alley with the face of the franchise.
“Man,” Fox said, “he takes on any matchup. It could be a big man. It could be point guard. He’s able to do pretty much everything on the court, especially when he’s shooting the ball (well). It’s already hard to stop him. … He’s so unselfish. He screens. He plays (dribble handoffs). He gets downhill. He catches-and-shoots. He gets to the free-throw line. He does so many things on the court that even when he’s not making shots, he’s still affecting the game in a positive way.”
“He’s quiet,” San Antonio Spurs point guard De’Aaron Fox says of Stephon Castle, “but as soon as we step out on the court, his game speaks.” (Alex Slitz / Getty Images)
In Game 1, Gilgeous-Alexander went 2-of-8 from the field with Castle defending him — and Wembanyama perennially lurking at the rim. In Game 2, SGA went 6-of-10 against Castle. Even with Wembanyama’s greatness, this series might come down to Castle’s ability to be a thorn for the two-time MVP.
“He’s definitely built like that,” rookie point guard Dylan Harper said. “It don’t matter who we play. I think he’s fearless. I think just relentless in whatever he does, and he’s gon’ pick you up every time and he’s gon’ do whatever you gotta do to win. So I mean that kind of relentlessness he has is, I think, unmatched.”
Castle is the spear of San Antonio’s resistance, and his spirit is central to the Spurs handling the pressure and weight of the playoffs thus far.
For a franchise that’s always valued edge over flash, Castle’s approach fits the tradition. San Antonio has never needed stars to be loud, just unyielding. And Castle’s identity has become a stabilizer for a young Spurs team still figuring out how to win. Especially after losses.
“Our intensity and our aggressiveness goes up a level,” he said.
He’s averaging 20.1 points in these playoffs. For this series, he’s totaled 42 points over the first two games despite being just 2-of-12 from 3. He has made 13 of 19 inside the arc, most of his damage coming from the restricted area (9-of-11).
But offense is “when necessary” for Castle. It was like that even at UConn. He’s a player who believes in his scoring but will sacrifice it on the altar of winning. He may not be able to, thanks to Spurs injuries. Fox, who missed the first two games of this series, takes 19 points off the table every game he misses with his ankle injury. If Harper is out for Game 3, that’s another 15 points off the ledger.
The Spurs will need Castle’s offense. More importantly, they’ll need him to protect the ball. But all of that is in addition to his defense, his rebounding, his slashing, his voice, his pugnacity.
Fox called him fearless. Harper described Castle as relentless. As far as the biggest dawg on the Spurs, Carter Bryant, the team’s other standout rookie, said Castle ranks 1B.
“I’m 1A,” Bryant said. “Of course.”
Bryant laughed. He’s as charismatic as he is athletic. The No. 14 pick out of Arizona is also hungry.
The Spurs’ plan is for Bryant, 6-for-6 and 220 pounds, to give Castle his breather. Sometimes, assistant coaches Sean Sweeney or Corliss Williamson would tap Bryant to take Castle’s matchup, give the starter a chance to rest.
And Castle would wave off the relief.
“He’s like, ‘Nah,’” Bryant said. “And I’m like, ‘Bro! This is what I do too. Let me rock a little bit, bro.’
“Steph just bleeds it. He’s playing 30, 40 minutes a game, and he takes on that challenge consistently. I didn’t realize how much respect he had this early in his career. … He plays like he’s four or five years into his career. He’s a second-year guy!”
That’s the part of Castle that resonates in the locker room — the production and the persistence. His willingness to take on the tough assignment, possession by possession. Never flinching. Never letting off the throttle. Never quitting.
It’s not glamorous work. But it travels. It’s proven to be vital support for Wembanyama. And in a series like this, where every shot and pass and cut is contested, and every drive congested, and every rebound in traffic, Castle can feel at home.
That’s why the dunk mattered. Not because it was as nasty as they come, especially in the playoffs. Not because highlights are preeminent. But because of the mentality that produced it.
He’s in it for the smoke. He’s inspired by the friction. The lane was open. The jumper was there. And Castle still chose the body in front of him.
“You’ve got to really have that intensity,” Harper said. “He gives the rest of the team energy.”