Spurs' title dreams hinge on Stephon Castle breaking bizarre habit

Stephon Castle was brilliant during Game 3 of the NBA Finals, posting 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting against the New York Knicks. In some ways, that's a positive sign that the San Antonio Spurs rising star is on the cusp of a breakout series.

Unfortunately, history shows that Castle scoring 20 points is a sign of future inefficiency, as he's consistently come back the next time out with surprisingly poor shooting performances.

Castle has been remarkably efficient in 2025-26, which is the primary reason this trend feels so out of character—if not outright bizarre. He shot 47.1 percent from the field during the regular season and has converted shots at a clip of .477/.362/.811 during the playoffs.

Castle has achieved the latter feat while averaging 19.0 points per game—making a simple 1.0-point jump something that shouldn't necessarily throw his game off.

Unfortunately, Castle followed his first 20-point game this postseason with 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting. That's not terrible, but he was less assertive and efficient. The next time he had to follow a 20-point game, the alarms were sounded when he tallied 13 points on 3-of-11 shooting.

Castle seemed to buck the trend with 17 points on 8-of-11 shooting during Game 5 of the Spurs' second round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but the issues have since continued.

Stephon Castle has followed 20-point games with a string of inefficiency

Castle went off for 32 points on 11-of-16 shooting in Game 6 against Minnesota. He then shot 5-of-14 from the field and committed 11 turnovers during Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. Thankfully, he bounced back with 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting in Game 2.

Unfortunately, he shot 1-of-8 from the field during Game 3. He eased some of the concerns by following a 24-point Game 5 by going 5-of-10 in Game 6, but it was yet another low-volume follow-up.

Castle is averaging just 11.3 field goal attempts per game following a 20-point performance. Subtract those outings and he's at 14.1 field goal attempts per game during the 2026 NBA Playoffs. The question is thus: Can he break the apparent mental block and remain assertive after a big game?

If he can, then the Knicks will continue to struggle to predict where the Spurs' offensive outbursts are going to come from—and Victor Wembanyama will thus have an easier time setting the pace.

Castle was both aggressive and responsible during Game 3, limiting turnovers, making critical plays as a passer, and getting to the rim with an assertive mentality. That opened up the court for San Antonio, as the Knicks had to be mindful of the opposition's dangerous slashing wing and all he could do to hurt them.

If Castle can turn in another strong and even relatively efficient performance in Game 4, then the Spurs could head back home at 2-2.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow