By Jeje Gomez | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-11-03 11:55:22
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
凭借多名球员的出色表现，圣安东尼奥在主场战胜了一支疲惫的竞争者，取得了一场宝贵的胜利。
马刺队毫不留情地痛击了疲惫的森林狼队，后者深夜飞抵圣安东尼奥，并且是背靠背的第二场比赛。银黑军团分享球权，努力防守，多名球员在关键时刻展现个人 brilliance ，最终以 113-103 的比分令人信服地战胜了这支有竞争力的球队。
很明显，马刺队从一开始就全神贯注，他们可能意识到自己有机会战胜一个实力更强但疲惫不堪的对手。维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)和克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)从一开始就在进攻端打得非常积极，以跟上天赋更高的森林狼队。在两人的带领下，进攻端运转良好，但本赛季至今表现出色的防守端却遇到了麻烦。当安东尼·爱德华兹(Anthony Edwards)持球时，对他进行强硬的包夹并派出额外的防守球员的策略是正确的，但爱德华兹很有耐心，他找到了队友并通过跳投来化解。朱利叶斯·兰德尔(Julius Randle)也让马刺队的防守球员难以招架，所以阻止对手得分成了一个问题。当替补球员上场时，马刺队的第二阵容足够稳固，他们用自己的外线投篮来应对森林狼队的三分雨。首节结束，双方战成 32 平。
第二节开始后，两队的防守问题依然存在。由于马刺队试图限制挡拆持球人，鲁迪·戈贝尔(Rudy Gobert)在篮下获得了很好的出手机会。在另一端，凯尔登·约翰逊(Keldon Johnson)则一直在攻击戈贝尔，后者试图在他身上隐藏自己，而一名较小的球员则负责防守文班亚马。约翰逊在对位森林狼队法国巨人的成功迫使森林狼队将戈贝尔换防到文班亚马身上，而马刺队则在挡拆中惩罚了他们。当大部分首发球员休息时，第二阵容在保罗的组织下，由索汉(Jeremy Sochan)作为挡拆下顺的终结点，以及索汉持球攻击篮筐，继续保持着对篮筐的压力。防守端并没有明显的改善，但有足够的成功防守来弥补文班的一些 questionable 投篮选择，进攻端也继续得分，让马刺队在半场结束时领先6分。
森林狼队此前看起来很疲惫，但他们尽力保持比分接近，最终在第三节耗尽了体力。他们的速度太慢，并且出现了非受迫性失误，马刺队则利用这些机会建立了巨大的领先优势。虽然客队显然不在最佳状态，但马刺队也应该得到足够的赞扬，他们嗅到了血腥味，并没有让猎物逃脱。克里斯·保罗巧妙地组织进攻，防守端也加强了强度，让森林狼队苦不堪言。森林狼队主教练克里斯·芬奇(Chris Finch)并没有深入轮换阵容寻找火花，而顶替身体不适的格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)的米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)则从凯尔登·约翰逊身上找到了额外的得分点。随着更多首发球员按计划休息，森林狼队发起了一波反击，但第二阵容阻止了他们将分差缩小到个位数。进入第四节，马刺队领先13分。
上赛季的马刺队可能会错过拉开比分的机会，或者放松警惕，让对手完成逆转，但这支球队看起来充满饥饿感，做好了准备。即使米奇·约翰逊尝试轮换阵容，效果好坏参半，让马拉基·布拉纳姆(Malaki Branham)担任替补控球后卫，杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan)担任中锋，球队似乎也从未失去冷静。糟糕的阶段并没有持续太久，老将保罗和哈里森·巴恩斯(Harrison Barnes)在最后一节展现了他们的存在感，确保了胜利。虽然比赛没有变成一边倒，但在任何时候，森林狼队似乎都没有机会卷土重来，让比赛变得 suspense 。芬奇似乎意识到这不是森林狼队的夜晚，在还剩三分钟落后14分的情况下，他清空了替补席。
本场最佳球
以下是文班的 nightly “他是怎么做到的？”精彩集锦。
哇！哇！哇！pic.twitter.com/KK4ZhccbaN
— 圣安东尼奥马刺队 (@ spurs) 2024年11月3日
比赛记录
- 文班亚马得到17分和3次助攻，但他对防守端的牵制力为队友创造了大量的空位投篮机会。他本人在传球方面做得更好，但仅仅是他在场上的存在就对球队有所帮助。
如此简单却又如此漂亮。文班设置掩护然后外弹。迪温琴佐换防到文班身上试图切断传球路线。卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)注意到了这一点，并将球传到了底角。额外的传球，尚帕尼(Julian Champagnie)的空位三分。 pic.twitter.com/G63Fd3jaba
— Jeje Gomez (@ JejeGomezNBA) 2024年11月3日
克里斯·保罗透露，波波维奇希望文班亚马面框接球而不是背身接球，文班亚马表示，新的方法有助于保持球的运转。马刺队送出了32次助攻，其中6名球员的助攻数达到或超过3次。不以传统方式通过文班亚马来运转进攻或许是可行的。
- 说到助攻，克里斯·保罗在本场复古表演中送出了13次助攻。他用精准的传球瓦解了森林狼队的防守，并且毫不犹豫地出手跳投。保罗显然正在学习如何在为新队友创造机会和寻找自己的投篮机会之间找到平衡。当他打得积极主动时，圣安东尼奥就更加危险。
- 马刺队已经从尝试控球索汉转变为现在的中锋索汉。这名年轻的前锋在场上作为唯一的“大个子”获得了出场时间，但当扎克·科林斯(Zach Collins)在他身边拉开空间时，他也一直在设置掩护并下顺到篮下。到目前为止，索汉的表现令人眼前一亮，正如文班亚马在赛后所说，索汉越来越擅长惩罚对手派来防守他的大个子。
- 凯尔登·约翰逊17投得到赛季最高的25分，并抢下8个篮板。米奇·约翰逊称赞了他的体能，以及他在比赛中始终如一的努力，克里斯·保罗也在赛后称赞了他的领导能力。约翰逊有他的局限性，稳定性仍然是一个问题，但他显然对这支球队意义重大，无论是在场上还是场下。
- 布雷克·韦斯利(Blake Wesley)掉出了轮换阵容。波波维奇在一段时间内让马拉基·布拉纳姆担任替补控球后卫，并让斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)也控球。两人都没有打出精彩的比赛，但他们都做得足够好，足以保住他们目前的出场时间，至少在特雷·琼斯(Tre Jones)和德文·瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)回归之前是这样。
- 说到瓦塞尔的回归，教练组在他准备好上场后将不得不做出一个艰难的决定。他们是让一直表现稳定、很少犯错的巴恩斯坐上板凳，还是让更年轻、状态起伏更大的尚帕尼坐上板凳？巴恩斯在对阵森林狼队的比赛中表现更好，并且可能会保住他的位置，但尚帕尼的表现也相当不错，即使他的投篮不佳，就像周六那样，也说明了他的出色发挥。
下一场比赛：周一客场挑战洛杉矶快船队
马刺队将前往快船队的新球馆，力争将连胜扩大到三场，并在本赛季首次胜率过半。
点击查看原文：Spurs pounce on tired Timberwolves to get their first win streak of the season
Spurs pounce on tired Timberwolves to get their first win streak of the season
With several players having great performances, San Antonio got a valuable win at home against a weary contender.
The Spurs showed no mercy to a tired Timberwolves team that flew in late to San Antonio and was on the second game of a back-to-back. The Silver and Black shared the ball, defended hard and got timely moments of individual brilliance from several players en route to an impressive 113-103 win over a contender.
It was clear that the Spurs were locked in from the get-go, likely understanding that they had a chance to get a quality win over a superior but weary opponent. Victor Wembanyama and Chris Paul played aggressively on offense from the start to keep up with the more talented Wolves. The offense was chugging along fine with those two leading the way, but this time the defense, which has been stellar so far this season, struggled. The plan to hedge hard and throw extra defenders at Anthony Edwards when he had the ball was the right one, but Edwards was patient and found teammates and canned jumpers to counter it. Julius Randle was also a handful for San Antonio’s defenders, so getting stops was an issue. When the benches checked in, the Spurs’ second unit was solid enough to endure a barrage of threes by responding with outside shots of their own. After one, the game was tied at 32.
The defensive issues remained for both teams to start the second quarter. Rudy Gobert was getting good looks close to the basket, as the Spurs tried to contain pick-and-roll ball handlers. On the other end, Keldon Johnson was going at Gobert, who was trying to hide on him while a smaller player checked Wembanyama. Johnson’s success against Minnesota’s French giant forced the Wolves to put Gobert on Wembanyama and San Antonio punished them on the pick-and-roll. When it was time for most of the starters to rest, the second unit kept the rim pressure with Paul setting up Jeremy Sochan as the dive man and then Sochan attacking the basket off the dribble. The defense didn’t necessarily improve much but there were enough stops to make up for some questionable shot selection from Victor and the offense continued to put points on the board to allow San Antonio to lead by six at the break.
After looking tired but trying their best to keep the game close, the Wolves finally ran out of gas in the third quarter. They were too slow and made unforced mistakes that the Spurs took advantage of to build a large lead. While the visitors weren’t clearly at their best, San Antonio deserves plenty of credit for smelling blood and not letting their prey get away. Chris Paul masterfully orchestrated the offense and the defense upped its intensity to make life miserable for Minnesota. Coach Chris Finch didn’t go deeper into his bench looking for a spark while Mitch Johnson, filling in for an under-the-weather Gregg Popovich, found supplementary scoring from Keldon Johnson. As more starters took their scheduled rest the Wolves made a run but the second unit prevented them from cutting the deficit below double digits. Heading into the fourth, the Spurs were up 13.
Last season’s Spurs might have missed their opportunity to pull away or relaxed and allowed a comeback, but this group seems hungry and ready. Even with Mitch Johnson experimenting with rotations to mixed results and playing Malaki Branham as the backup point guard and Jeremy Sochan at center, it never seemed like the team lost its composure. The bad stretches didn’t extend for too long and the veterans, Paul and Harrison Barnes made their presence felt in the final frame to secure the win. It wasn’t a blowout but at no point did it seem like the Wolves were going to come storming back to make it a game. Finch seemed to recognize that it wouldn’t be Minnesota’s night and emptied his bench trailing by 14 with three minutes to go.
Play of the game
Here’s your nightly “how did he do that?” Wemby highlight.
wow! wow! wow! pic.twitter.com/KK4ZhccbaN
— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) November 3, 2024
Game notes
- Wembanyama finished with 17 points and three assists but the attention his presence draws from the defense leads to so many open looks for his teammates. He’s doing a better job of passing the ball himself but simply by being out there he helps.
So simple but so pretty. Wemby sets the screen and pops. DiVincenzo rotates to Victor to try to play that passing lane. Castle notices it and swings the ball to the corner. Extra pass, wide-open Champagnie three pic.twitter.com/G63Fd3jaba
— Jeje Gomez (@ JejeGomezNBA) November 3, 2024
Chris Paul revealed that Pop said he wants Wemby to get the ball facing the basket instead of with his back to it and Wemby said that the new approach helps keep the ball moving. The Spurs had 32 assists with six players logging three or more. Not running the offense through Wemby in a traditional way could be the play.
- Speaking of assists, Chris Paul had 13 of them on a throwback performance. He dissected the Wolves’ defense with pinpoint passes and didn’t hesitate to pull up for jumpers. Paul is clearly learning how to find the balance between setting up his new teammates and looking for his shot. When he’s aggressive, San Antonio is much more dangerous.
- The Spurs have gone from trying out Point Sochan to now experimenting with Center Sochan. The young forward got playing time as the only “big” but has also been setting screens and diving to the rim when Zach Collins is next to him, spacing the floor. Sochan has been a revelation so far and, as Wembanyama said after the game, is getting better at punishing the big men that opponents put on him.
- Keldon Johnson scored a season-high 25 points on 17 shots and pulled down eight rebounds. Mitch Johnson credited his conditioning for how consistent his effort was and Chris Paul praised his leadership after the game. Johnson has his limitations and consistency remains an issue, but he clearly means a lot for this group, on and off the floor.
- Blake Wesley is out of the rotation. Pop went with Malaki Branham as backup point guard for stretches and had Stephon Castle handle the ball as well. Neither of them had great games but both did enough to likely hold on to the playing time they have been getting, at least until Tre Jones and Devin Vassell return.
- While on the topic of Vassell’s return, the coaching staff will have to make a tough decision once he’s ready to play. Do they bench Barnes, who has been steady and rarely makes the wrong play or do they bench the younger, streakier Julian Champagnie? Barnes had the better game against the Wolves and is likely to keep his position but the fact that Champagnie has arguably made it close speaks to how well he’s played, even when his shot has been off, like it was on Saturday.
Next game: At Los Angeles Clippers on Monday
The Spurs will visit the Clippers’ new arena looking to extend their winning streak to three and get above .500 for the first time this season.
By Jeje Gomez, via Pounding The Rock