Stephon Castle led the San Antonio Spurs in scoring against the Houston Rockets on Thursday night.

The former UConn star scored 16 points in 24 minutes as the Spurs lost their final preseason game to the Rockets 129-107 at Toyota Center. And with the preseason behind him, Castle is ready to take a crack at the regular season. He has enjoyed his first pre-season and is now ready to play the games that count towards the overall standings.

“I feel like I’m ready to go,” he said. “I’m just trying to gauge the speed of the game and the physicality. Now it’s starting to slow down. … I thought these games were really necessary and useful.”

READ MORE: Castle impresses Spurs early with versatility and “own pace”

Castle said the biggest thing he took away from Thursday’s game and the entire preseason was the different combinations of players Spurs coach Gregg Popovich used. Thursday night was a night for the reserves as many of the usual starters, such as Chris Paul and Victor Wembanyama, did not feature.

“We’re just building chemistry,” Castle said. “Understand each other.”

Castle said the Spurs will work on their team defense over the next week. He added that when they play their best team defense, it makes the transition easier.

“We will concentrate on our defense. I feel like when we play our best defense, we’re at our best, managing our transition and scoring points,” Castle said. “We don’t have to play at half court all the time. We’re just trying to embrace it.”

Despite the defeat, Popovich was optimistic. He is also ready for the start of the season.

“I saw a lot of things that I liked,” Popovich said. “We competed hard in the first and third quarters, but we pulled away in the second and fourth quarters. We will focus on the things we saw on both sides and the things we did well. I was impressed by the good number of players and the sight of their company knowledge improving a bit.

“We will continue to improve.”

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