The 2026 NBA Finals have already begun between the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks, where the Knicks already stole the first game on the road with a huge fourth quarter from Jalen Brunson. Brunson was guarded by Stephon Castle, who has already made clear the differences between guarding him and the league MVP, Shai Gilgeous Alexander.
Stephon Castle spoke on the difference between guarding SGA and Jalen Brunson when it comes to their foul-drawing capabilities. “Jalen likes to use angles a lot more, pump fakes. Get to his spots. Not really trying to draw fouls as much, trying to get to his midrange and spots where he likes,” he said, per SNY Knicks on X.
Jalen Brunson spent a lot of time being defended by Spurs guard Stephon Castle, who had a strong defensive series against reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of OKC in the Western Conference Finals. Stephon Castle played a great role there, preventing the MVP from shining.
Brunson and Shai utilizing physicality in different ways
The propensity of Gilgeous-Alexander to embellish contact and get to the free-throw line has been a major talking point throughout these playoffs, with some fans opining that the Thunder star was not being “ethical” in his scoring habits.
Stephon Castle on the biggest difference between defending Jalen Brunson vs. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander:
— SNY Knicks (@sny_knicks) June 4, 2026
"Jalen likes to use angles a lot more, pump fakes. Get to his spots. Not really trying to draw fouls as much, trying to get to his midrange and spots where he likes." pic.twitter.com/77IRiAZfnf
Jalen Brunson has been known to sell a call or two in his own time, but he still had plenty of complaints for the refs during and after the game on Wednesday, hitting the deck numerous times without getting a whistle. Furthermore, Jalen Brunson is quite physical when it comes to gaining space against his opponent, but he does not usually flop or simulate fouls.
The Spurs will want to keep Stephon Castle on Jalen Brunson defensively as much as possible moving forward in hopes of limiting the Knicks star to similar inefficient evenings as he had on Wednesday night.
Castle thinks they are better
Stephon Castle and the Spurs will need to go back to the drawing board for their game plan on Jalen Brunson. The southpaw had a game-high 30 points along with three rebounds and two assists, helping the Knicks overcome a 14-point deficit.
Not surprisingly, Stephon Castle isn’t panicking after one game. He thought San Antonio’s lack of collective postseason experience may have been a hindrance in the opener.
“We feel like we’re the better team,” he said. “We didn’t play well and still had a chance to win. … If we take one thing from that, just going back to being ourselves.” Game 2 of the NBA Finals is set for Friday evening in San Antonio.
