Stephon Castle Stats Tonight: How did Spurs rookie fare against Jazz? (Nov. 26)
The San Antonio Spurs took on the Utah Jazz for the fourth and final time this season and rookie Stephon Castle made his presence felt all game. The first-year guard started in his eleventh straight game this season after playing the first seven games of his career off the bench.
Despite playing most of the third quarter, Castle was mostly quiet that period. He was sent to the line after a John Collins foul not long after the second half started and sank both free throws.
He also hit a jumper over Walker Kessler after displaying some fancy footwork but he would not score again until the game's final frame. He was subbed out at the 4:20 mark of the third and re-entered the game with seven minutes left in the final frame.
Castle became quiet toward the end of the game, scoring only one more time in the fourth. He hit a 3-point shot in the waning moments of the game to put the Spurs up by 13. That also happened to be the game's final basket and the Spurs won 128-115.
With this victory, the Spurs concluded their season series against the Jazz 3-1.
Stephon Castle continues double-figure scoring streak,reaches 20-point threshold for the third time in NBA career
Stephon Castle's first few games in his NBA career were quite underwhelming. In his first seven games where he played off the bench, he averaged 6.0 points per game on a 31.3% shooting clip (12.5% from downtown). This included a game where he failed to register a single point (Oct. 30 against the OKC Thunder).
His slow start carried over to his first career start on Nov. 6 against the Houston Rockets. In that game, he went 2-for-8, including 1-for-5 from the 3-point line, scoring only five points.
However, a switch seems to have been flipped in Castle since then. In every single Spurs game since Nov. 7, the rookie has scored in double figures. Since that game and up until San Antonio's clash against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, Castle has been averaging 15.3 ppg on a 44.0% shooting clip, including 34.9% in his 3-pointers.
This stretch includes two games where he scored over 20 points. On Nov. 9, in a contest that was also against the Jazz, he scored a career-high 23 points. Then, he registered 22 points against the LA Lakers on Nov. 15.
With his 23-point game against the Jazz tonight (Nov. 26), he has scored over 20 points for the third time in his career.