By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2024-12-02 12:58:05
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。
2024年12月1日，星期日，在加利福尼亚州萨克拉门托举行的一场NBA篮球比赛下半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋朱利安·尚帕尼(Julian Champagnie)（30号）在萨克拉门托国王队前锋杰·克劳德（99号）面前投篮。（美联社照片/杰德·雅各布森）
菲尼克斯——对于年轻且仍在学习的马刺队来说，他们有很多理由想要赢得阿联酋航空NBA杯赛冠军。
朱利安·尚帕尼(Julian Champagnie)大概能想到五十万个这样的理由。
冠军能获得的奖金？
“那是最重要的，”尚帕尼笑着说。
为了有机会获得分给每位冠军球队球员的514,970美元奖金，马刺队必须首先晋级八强淘汰赛。
周二在菲尼克斯的比赛中获胜将确保他们从西部B组直接晋级。
但这说起来容易做起来难，因为他们要面对拥有凯文·杜兰特、德文·布克和布拉德利·比尔这三重得分威胁的球队。 不过，由于左小腿受伤正在恢复中，比尔最近一直处于打打停停的状态。
“对于我们这支年轻的队伍来说，即使是拥有这样的机会也很重要，”前锋哈里森·巴恩斯(Harrison Barnes)说道。“菲尼克斯是一支优秀的球队，我认为这对我们来说将是一个很好的挑战。”
事实上，马刺队的大部分球员都没有太多在重要比赛中打球的经验。连续两个赛季只赢下22场比赛，并没有自然而然地创造出许多非赢即输的局面。
对马刺队代理教练米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)来说，这些大场面时刻才是NBA季中锦标赛对他球队的真正价值所在。
“当你拥有一支年轻的球队时，任何时候他们开始经历新事物或经历老球员经历过的事情，都只会对他们有所帮助，”约翰逊说。
在周二的小组赛最后一场比赛之前，马刺队的杯赛战绩为2胜1负，与俄克拉荷马城雷霆队和太阳队并列。 他们在与雷霆队的交锋中拥有胜负关系上的优势，这让他们在晋级八强方面掌握着自己的命运。
一切都取决于周二晚上在足迹中心的比赛。
“我认为这会感觉像一场季后赛，”尚帕尼说。
巴恩斯曾是萨克拉门托一支年轻球队的一员，该球队在2023年打破了16年的季后赛荒。
他认为，一场生死攸关的NBA杯赛可能会让马刺队受益匪浅，其影响力将超越锦标赛本身。
“当一支球队有机会进入季后赛或拥有这样的共同经历时，它只会加速球队的成熟，”巴恩斯说。“谈论胜利，谈论在季后赛和重要时刻打球是一回事，但你真的必须亲身经历。除了亲身经历之外，没有其他方法可以做到这一点。”
尚帕尼并没有忽视这一点，他已经是马刺队的第三个赛季了，还没有经历过像球队周二将要面对的那样充满压力的比赛。
对于正在崛起的马刺队来说，这种经验可能比奖金更有价值。
“这只是变得更好的过程中又一块垫脚石，”尚帕尼说。
琼斯进入伤病名单
随着受伤的前锋杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan)即将复出，马刺队一直将周二视为球队首次以完全健康的状态参加比赛的日子。
然而，这些计划在周日在萨克拉门托破灭了，当时替补控球后卫特雷·琼斯(Tre Jones)撞上了国王队多曼塔斯·萨博尼斯的强力掩护。
第四节的这次碰撞导致琼斯左肩扭伤，这是他在前往金州第一中心更衣室的路上无法抬起手臂后所能期待的最好的诊断结果。
2024年12月1日，加利福尼亚州萨克拉门托：在加利福尼亚州萨克拉门托的金州第一中心，圣安东尼奥马刺队的特雷·琼斯（33号）在第一节结束时压哨投篮，越过萨克拉门托国王队的基恩·埃利斯（23号）。
“从当时的感觉来看，我以为情况会更糟，”周日琼斯说道，他的左肩用吊带吊着。
索汉仍然有望在周二的比赛中复出，这是他自11月4日以来的首次出场。 马刺队本赛季的第一份干净的伤病报告还得再等等。
“这太疯狂了，”琼斯说。“我们离目标就差那么一点点。”
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 01: Julian Champagnie #30 of the San Antonio Spurs goes up for a shot on Domantas Sabonis #11 of the Sacramento Kings in the first half at Golden 1 Center on December 01, 2024 in Sacramento, California.
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 27: Julian Champagnie #30 of the San Antonio Spurs takes a shot against Rui Hachimura #28 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the second quarter at Frost Bank Center on November 27, 2024 in San Antonio, Texas.
点击查看原文：For Spurs, NBA Cup games worth more than money
For Spurs, NBA Cup games worth more than money
San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) shoots against Sacramento Kings forward Jae Crowder (99) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Sacramento, Calif, Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
PHOENIX – For the young and learning Spurs, there are a handful of reasons to want to win the Emirates NBA Cup.
Julian Champagnie can think of about half a million of them.
The prize money that goes to the champion?
“That’s No. 1,” Champagnie said with a laugh.
To have a shot at the $514,970 payday awarded to each player on the tournament-winning team, the Spurs must first qualify for the knockout round of eight.
Winning Tuesday in Phoenix would clinch the automatic bid from West Group B.
That could be easier said than done against a team that features the triple scoring threat of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. Though, Beal has been in and out of the line of of late due to his recovery from a left calf injury.
“It’s important for our young group just to even have that opportunity,” forward Harrison Barnes said. “It’s a good Phoenix team and I think it will be a good challenge for us.”
Indeed, the bulk of the Spurs’ roster does not have much experience playing in games with any sort of stakes. Back-to-back 22-win seasons did not organically create many win-or-go-home scenarios.
To Spurs acting coach Mitch Johnson, these kind of big-stage moments have been the true value of the NBA in-season tournament for his team.
“When you have a younger team, any time they start experiencing new things or going through things older players have been through, it’s going to do nothing but help them,” Johnson said.
The Spurs are 2-1 in Cup games entering Tuesday’s group stage finale, tied with Oklahoma City and the Suns. They hold the head-to-head tiebreaker against the Thunder, which gives them control of their own destiny when it comes to making the final eight.
It all comes down to Tuesday night at the Footprint Center.
“I think it’s going to feel like a playoff game,” Champagnie said.
Barnes was part of a young club in Sacramento that broke a 16-year playoff drought in 2023.
He believes a do-or-die NBA Cup game could benefit the Spurs in ways that extend beyond the tournament itself.
“When a team has an opportunity to make it to the postseason or have a shared experience like that, it just fast-tracks maturity,” Barnes said. “It’s one thing to talk about winning, to talk about playing in the postseason and playing in big moments, but you honestly just have to go through it. There’s no other way to do that but to do that.”
That notion is not lost on Champagnie, who is in his third season with the Spurs and has not sniffed a game as pressurized as the team will face Tuesday.
For the up-and-coming Spurs, that experience might prove more valuable than prize money.
“It’s just another stepping stone in the process of getting better,” Champagnie said.
Jones lands on injured list
With the return of injured forward Jeremy Sochan imminent, the Spurs had been circling Tuesday as the first time the team would go into a game at full health.
Those plans were scuttled Sunday in Sacramento, when backup point guard Tre Jones banged into a hard screen from the Kings’ Domantas Sabonis.
The fourth-quarter collision left Jones with a sprained left shoulder, as positive a diagnosis as he could have hoped for after being unable to lift his arm on the way to the Golden1 Center locker room.
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 01: Tre Jones #33 of the San Antonio Spurs makes a shot over Keon Ellis #23 of the Sacramento Kings at the buzzer at the end of the first period at Golden 1 Center on December 01, 2024 in Sacramento, California.
“The way it felt, I thought it might be worse,” Jones said Sunday, his left shoulder in a sling.
Sochan is still trending toward playing for the first time since Nov. 4 on Tuesday. The Spurs’ first clean injury report of the season will have to wait.
“It’s crazy,” Jones said. “We were so close.”
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 01: Julian Champagnie #30 of the San Antonio Spurs goes up for a shot on Domantas Sabonis #11 of the Sacramento Kings in the first half at Golden 1 Center on December 01, 2024 in Sacramento, California.
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS - NOVEMBER 27: Julian Champagnie #30 of the San Antonio Spurs takes a shot against Rui Hachimura #28 of the Los Angeles Lakers during the second quarter at Frost Bank Center on November 27, 2024 in San Antonio, Texas.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News