Jalen Brunson is gearing up for yet another matchup against a point guard who apparently has his number defensively.
Spurs defensive specialist Stephon Castle will be tasked with trying to shut down the New York Knicks’ superstar and captain in the NBA Finals, which tips off on Wednesday night in San Antonio. There is regular-season success that suggests it could happen.
In 38 career possessions when being guarded by Castle, Brunson has scored just five points and is shooting 28.7% from the field.
“He’s great. I think his intensity and tenacity is special,” Brunson said on Tuesday of the second-year man out of UConn. “He plays with a chip on his shoulder. He’s had that since I’ve seen him at UConn. The way he’s played over these first couple years of his career, he’s going to be a great player, great defender. He’s tough. Something you have to game plan for and just be smart.”
Similar talk had existed in previous rounds, specifically ahead of the Eastern Conference Finals when Cleveland Cavaliers guard Dean Wade had locked Brunson up in the regular season to the tune of 1-of-16 shooting from the field and a 0-of-6 mark from three-point range.
That did little to slow the three-time All-Star down, as he was unanimously voted the Eastern Conference Finals MVP behind 25.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 7.8 assists per game.
Castle, though, is coming off a Western Conference Finals clash against the Oklahoma City in which he shut down two-time reigning NBA MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, particularly in Game 6. SGA was limited to just 15 points on 6-of-18 shooting while the Spurs forced Game 7.
“I guess, knowing it’s a positive in my game, it’s a strong suit of my game,” Castle said. “Just using that to my advantage. Also, just my competitive nature, just wanting those matchups. Just wanting to win so bad, doing whatever it takes. If that means guarding the other team’s best player for 40 minutes a night, then that’s what I’ll do… I love those challenges. I mean, I ask for them, to be honest with you.”
To slow down Brunson, Castle knows he has to be physical, which is nothing new after what was a slugfest in the Western Conference Finals. Castle is three inches taller and 15 pounds heavier than the Knicks star.
“He’s obviously shorter than me, but he’s a very physical guard; he gets to his spots well. Uses deception well, has great footwork,” Castle said. “Trying to be as disciplined as I can, crowd his space, but not give him the angles that he’s looking for. At this point, he’s seen pretty much every coverage, been guarded all kinds of ways. Just trying to impose my will and use my physicality to my advantage.”
While San Antonio’s physicality might have thrown off the defending champions, they are facing a Knicks team that is not afraid to mix it up and has the advantage of rest, which increases their threshold. New York had eight days off between its sweep of the Cavaliers and Game 1 of the Finals.
“I think we’re a focused group. I think we’re a hard-working group,” Brunson said. “I feel like we’ve been doubted a lot. There’s been a lot of noise on the outside that we could obviously talk about, complain about, do something about. We’ve always just went back into the gym, worked on our game individually. When it came to practice, now we’re focused; when it came to games, we kept getting better and better.
“I think our mentality is in the right place at the right time. We just got to stay focused and keep learning. Even today, we can’t be satisfied because we’re here, we have to keep learning.”
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