feel like were the better team…
SAN ANTONIO — Stephon Castle took a web page out of James Harden’s playbook Thursday.
While, yes, the Knicks gained Game 1 of the NBA Finals despite not being at their best, the Spurs’ younger guard remained just as assured in his team.
“I think [Victor Wembanyama] said it best: I don’t think we have anything to be too worried about,” Castle said. “Obviously, we feel like we’re the better team. We didn’t play well, still had a chance to win.”
It was considerably reminiscent of Harden saying he felt the Cavaliers were better than the Knicks after getting swept in the Eastern Conference finals. This is, of course, just one sport.
Spurs guard Stephon Castle talks with the media on June 4, 2026 in preparation for his team’s Game 2 battle against the Knicks. NBAE via Getty Images
But the Spurs had a 14-point lead in the third quarter and were at home, yet the Knicks outscored them by 17 factors in the second half and gained their franchise-record twelfth consecutive playoff sport.
They held Wembanyama in test, holding him to 6-of-21 taking pictures and forcing six turnovers. Wembanyama, who completed with 26 factors, positioned the blame on himself both after the loss and again Thursday.
He didn’t essentially discredit the Knicks protection against him, but the 7-foot-4 Frenchman didn’t appear overly impressed by how they guarded him, either.
“It’s almost like I [don’t] have anything to figure out. It’s almost like I have to play normal, not even good,” he said. “It’s just like doing the right things is enough. When we play bad, when I play bad, is when we shoot ourselves in the foot. This is why I’m not worried. We’re going to be so much better. I’m going to be so much better.”
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson had a comparable take on the sequence opener.
He felt San Antonio was uncharacteristically isolation-heavy on offense, relying on their expertise instead of what has gotten them right here. It led to only 16 assists and 43 3-point makes an attempt, with the Spurs making just 11 of them.
“I think the way we played offensively in terms of a team and our brand, we didn’t play with the pass enough, we didn’t put enough pressure [on them], force the [ball] in the paint,” he said. “It led to a lot of making or missing shots, us trying to play with talent offensively instead of playing together and finding opportunities to take advantage of. New York gets a lot of credit for that. I think we have a lot of room for improvement on that moving forward.”
The Spurs, it must be famous, have been right here before. They trailed the Thunder in the Western Conference finals and the Timberwolves in the sequence before that.
“We just need to play our game. We just need to be normal,” Wembanyama said. “We don’t need to do anything incredible.”
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