Brunson vs. Castle (and Wemby): Spurs and Knicks Stars Break Down Key Matchup Before NBA Finals

The biggest individual matchup of the NBA Finals might be between New York's superstar point guard Jalen Brunson and San Antonio's dogged defender Stephon Castle, who applies pressure on the ball while Wembanyama protects the paint.

Dec 31, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) dribbles against San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) in the second half at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

SAN ANTONIO -- The New York Knicks are brimming with confidence as they arrive in San Antonio for the NBA Finals.

After a Conference Finals run last year they've won 11-consecutive playoff games to get over the hump and into the Finals, where they'll face a Spurs team they've had a good amount of success against so far this season.

Star point guard Jalen Brunson is hoping to bring Knicks fans their first title in 53 years. Just two years ago he put up 61 points in a classic overtime duel that New York wound up losing against the Spurs and Victor Wembanyama, who put up 40 points and 20 rebounds and famously tossed the ball into the crowd.

That time Wemby threw Brunson’s 61-point game ball into the stands pic.twitter.com/fkgm1lPFUB

— Spurs Culture (@SpursCulture) May 31, 2026

But this Spurs team is a lot different than that one. For Brunson, the biggest difference is that the Spurs have since drafted Stephon Castle and empowered him to be one of the most devastating point-of-attack defenders in the league.

"He's great, I think his intensity and tenacity is special," Brunson said at the Frost Bank Center on Tuesday before Game 1 of the Finals. "He plays with a chip on his shoulder and he's had that since I've seen him at UConn and the way he's played over these first couple years in his career. He's gonna be a great player, great defender, and based off that it's something you have to game plan for and just be smart."

According to the NBA's matchup tracking data, Castle has spent over seven minutes of game time guarding the Knicks' star point guard this season. In those minutes across two games, Brunson shot 0-4 from the floor.

"What's worked for me is trying to be physical with him," Castle said. "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. So, trying to be as disciplined as I can, crowd his space, but not give him the angle that he's looking for. At this point, he's seen pretty much every coverage, been guarded all kinds of ways. I'm just trying to impose my will and use my physicality to my advantage."

Dec 16, 2025; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) dribbles the ball against San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) during the Emirates NBA Cup Final at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The 7-foot-5 alien anchors the Spurs' formidable defense which effectively shut down SGA and the high-scoring Thunder offense in the Conference Finals. But it's Castle as the head of the snake for San Antonio's collection of guards and wings who make it hell to even try getting to Wembanyama at the rim. The biggest adjustment of the series was allowing Castle to guard Shai more straight up, requiring less help from the other wings.

"Very physical, the way they play, obviously they're able to pressure on the perimeter," Brunson said. "Having Wemby down there on the weak side creates havoc, and so they're multi-dimensional. They have a lot of different ways they can beat you on both sides of the ball, so obviously paying attention to the details when it comes to game plan is very important for us."

Castle has guarded plenty of stars this year, nobody more than reigning back-to-back MVP Shai Gilgeous Alexander. In the regular season he held SGA to 6-19 shooting across over 21 minutes where he guarded him directly. In the Western Conference Finals he spent over 43 minutes guarding Shai, who finished at 20-44 on field goals to go with 15 assists and nine turnovers.

May 28, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) dribbles the ball against San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) in the first half during game six of the western conference finals for the 2026 NBA playoffs at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images

"Steph's been great for us all year," said Julian Champagnie. "He's been our best defensive player outside of the big fella down low. I personally think that's an All-Defensive guard right there, 100% He's taken every matchup with pride... we wouldn't be this far without his relentlessness, I think he's been great so far. He's just a dog."

A sturdy 6-foot-6, Castle is one of the few players in the league who can truly guard anyone on the court, from the shortest scoring star in Brunson to one of the biggest in Nikola Jokic. The techniques vary, but the tenacity remains constant. On the other end, he's a key driver and decisionmaker in San Antonio's offense.

"I just keep witnessing it," said Spurs coach Mitch Johnson. "I'm not talking about performance, because I don't want to get crucified, but in terms of output of energy, when you think about what he's doing defensively and offensively, it takes you to some really rare territory of names that you may not want to say... the output of energy in terms of what he does defensively and offensively, it's similar to Victor, in the terms of he's basically in the middle of every single play offensively or defensively, but he's on the basketball."

It's rare for a player of any experience level to handle this much of the load on both ends of the floor, but for a 21-year-old sophomore it's basically unheard of. Much like Wembanyama, Castle is the kind of kid who doesn't take long to learn and adapt.

"That's some very rare air, just in terms of output of energy, and then you start talking about the quality that he's doing it," Johnson said. "I think the best way to explain Steph Castle is, he had 20 plus turnovers in two games, and if you watch the rest of the series, you'd have no idea."

Even in those games where Castle struggled mightily to control the ball against a Thunder defense that keyed in on him with De'Aaron Fox out, Castle could always fall back on his calling card of defense. He spoke Tuesday about why he's gravitated so much to doing that job at a star level.

"My competitive nature, not wanting to take plays off, just having pride in guarding one on one, and I think just the success that I had at UConn with it, and understanding how much of that was needed for us to win, I think it kind of just became natural for that to be a part of my game," Castle said. "I don't think it was ever a weakness of mine, but I don't think I'd ever seen it before UConn as a strong suit of mine, or a high skill of mine, and and now I do. It's a big part of my game now, so I don't take that year for granted, and I think just learning how to win, I think it's very important to winning."

UConn guard Stephon Castle (5) fouls Marquette guard Stevie Mitchell (4) during the first half of their game Wednesday, March 6, 2024 at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.\ | Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK

Castle's emphasis on the defensive end is a huge part of why the Spurs are here, and he'd be the first to tell you that a big reason why he can be so aggressive against these star players is that he knows the biggest star is behind him.

"We hit our stride at the right time, and yeah, also we have the best player in the world on our team," Castle said.

Wembanyama seems to have snatched that title from SGA after leading the Spurs past the defending champions in a riveting Game 7 in OKC.

"The emotion was really something I haven't felt in a while, I don't even know since when, and coming back down from this is a challenge, and it's not done yet," Wembanyama said. "We still need to really come back down to earth and realize that we haven't done the hardest part yet, the job isn't done at all."

Wemby knows that the Spurs got here as a group, and the Knicks might be the most dangerous group San Antonio has faced to this point. Brunson has more shooters around him than the Timberwolves or Thunder had around their star playmakers, and that's part of why New York's offense is so blistering hot in the playoffs.

"It's a great team of experienced guys who are not here by chance, but by relentless effort over the years, and very different career paths for all of them," Wembanyama said. "So they're right where they're supposed to be, in my opinion, and all of them are going to be super hungry in their own way."

As spectacular as the Knicks have been all postseason, they know they haven't faced a team like the Spurs yet. And their star point guard knows that even if he gets past Castle, he'll have to deal with the alien.

"Watching him as a player, it's pretty unbelievable," Brunson said. "Things he's able to do both sides of the ball, obviously people have never really seen before, for a person of his size, so it's incredible to watch from a fan's perspective. As an opposing player, it's something you constantly have to be on watch for. You just never know the things that he's capable of doing, and so that's why game planning and our game-plan discipline and our attention to details are so important when it comes to playing him, because he's pretty incredible."