By Bill Huan | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-12-04 12:41:43
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。
圣安东尼奥马刺几乎完成了又一次逆转，但最终功亏一篑。
最近六场比赛赢下五场的势头火热的马刺（上次有人这么说是什么时候？），在周二晚以93-104输给太阳的另一场精彩比赛后，他们赢得酋长杯的希望破灭了。
比赛的开局并不如预期。菲尼克斯太阳开场气势如虹，前三次出手全部命中，并在不到两分钟的时间内取得了7-0的领先。这迫使米奇·约翰逊(Mitch “Pop” Johnson)教练早早叫了暂停，但太阳的火热手感仍在延续。特别是德文·布克(Devin Booker)状态火热：这位明星后卫在比赛开始前的生涯总得分定格在14,999分，并确保在第一节就跨越了15,000分大关，仅第一节就砍下了12分。
从好的方面来看，杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan)替补出场给马刺带来了活力。这位三年级前锋从一上场就展现了自己的存在感，他在每个回合都全力以赴，为每个篮板球拼尽全力。他充满控制力的“混乱”打法给圣安东尼奥注入了一股能量，这似乎也感染了德文·瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)，他通过多次中距离投篮帮助马刺紧咬比分。然而，文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)或许打出了他本赛季最糟糕的上半场。他一分未得，而且看起来完全不在状态，上半场总共出场时间不到14分钟。
然而，外星人不会长时间隐姓埋名。他们最终会让自己的存在被世人知晓，而文班正是这样做的。在第三节开始后的不到五分钟时间里，他得到了12分，圣安东尼奥的进攻完全围绕着他展开，文班利用自己的身高和敏捷性在内线惩罚了太阳，为自己创造了轻松得分的机会。转眼间，曾经13分的落后优势缩小到只有两分，马刺似乎决心要将“逆转小子”的称号注册商标。
不幸的是，圣安东尼奥在第四节再次哑火。他们创造了很好的投篮机会，也有机会完成逆转，但马刺的三分球继续抛弃他们：他们三分球43投仅8中，表现糟糕。结果，菲尼克斯太阳拉开了比分，但马刺的斗志以及索汉和瓦塞尔的出色发挥仍然让这场比赛成为一次积极的体验。
比赛记录
- 我喜欢这支球队的拼劲。我们都知道索汉打球有多努力，但斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)也是如此。第二节有一个特别突出的回合：在投丢一记中距离后，卡斯尔立即冲刺到底线，试图将球从太阳球员手中碰出界外。虽然这并没有奏效，因为裁判吹罚了二次运球，但我仍然喜欢这种韧劲。
- 即使他只在一个半节的时间里打出了统治力，毫无疑问，文班现在已经是联盟前十的球员了。他是迄今为止最好的防守者，在油漆区内几乎无法防守，而对方球队现在像防斯蒂芬（库里）一样扑出去挑战他的三分球。哦，我有没有提到他仍然只是触及了他潜力的皮毛？有无数次他在防守端失位，但仍然凭借他的直觉和臂展完成封盖。在进攻端，每个人都知道他的投篮仍然在改进中，但一旦他掌握了这一点并成为一个更好的决策者，文班将真正成为一个三威胁得分手。这种提升一个时代只会发生几次，所以要珍惜它正在发生的时候。
- 索汉出场21分45秒，得到14分、12个篮板和2次助攻。比赛中有一些时间段，我认为他会问布克是否想知道他的伤疤是从哪里来的，但除此之外，索汉看起来和往常一样。这位三年级前锋在进攻端大杀四方，同时打出顽强的防守，但有一点需要继续关注，那就是他的罚球：索汉8罚4中，但我喜欢他不让自己的挣扎阻止他冲击篮筐。
- 瓦塞尔在仅仅27分41秒的时间里14投10中得到25分。我认为是时候让他重新回到首发阵容了。
本场最佳
看来外星人后脑勺上也长着眼睛。
我的天呐。 pic.twitter.com/lFoy63MCdx
— 圣安东尼奥马刺 (@ spurs) 2024年12月4日
下一场比赛：周四对阵公牛
圣安东尼奥将在周四对阵公牛的比赛中力争重返胜轨，公牛仍然被认为是一支职业NBA球队。
点击查看原文：Spurs fail to complete come back as Suns eliminate them from the Emirates Cup
Spurs fail to complete come back as Suns eliminate them from the Emirates Cup
San Antonio almost completed another comeback but fell just short at the end.
Winners of five of their last six games, the red-hot Spurs (when was the last time anyone said that?) had their hopes of winning the Emirates Cup dashed by the Suns on Tuesday night by losing 104-93 in another entertaining match.
The game didn’t start as planned. Phoenix came out blazing by making their first three shots and built a 7-0 lead less than two minutes in. This forced Mitch “Pop” Johnson to call an early timeout, but the Suns’ hot shooting continued. Specifically, Devin Booker was on fire: the star guard came into the night sitting at 14,999 points and made sure to cross the 15k threshold early by finishing the first quarter with 12 points alone.
On the bright side, Jeremy Sochan gave the Spurs a boost off the bench. The third-year forward made his presence felt right away by hustling on every possession and fighting for every rebound. His controlled chaos provided San Antonio with a burst of energy and it seemed to rub off on Devin Vassell, who kept the Spurs in the game by hitting multiple mid-rangers. Wemby, though, played perhaps his worst half of the season. He went scoreless and didn’t seem engaged at all, and played less than 14 minutes in total in the first half.
However, extraterrestrials don’t stay incognito for long. They will eventually make their presence known, and that’s exactly what Wemby did. He scored a dozen points in under five minutes to start the third quarter as San Antonio ran their offense entirely through him, and Wemby punished the Suns in the post by using his size and agility to create easy shots for himself. In the blink of an eye, what was once a 13-point deficit dwindled to just two, and the Spurs seemed determined to have “The Comeback Kids” trademarked.
Unfortunately, San Antonio went cold again in the fourth. They generated good looks and had chances to complete the comeback, but the Spurs’ three-ball continued to abandon them: they were an abysmal 8-43 from deep. Phoenix pulled away as a result, but the Spurs’ fighting spirit and good play from Sochan and Vassell still made this an overall positive experience.
Game notes
- I love this team’s hustle. We all know how much effort Sochan plays with, but Castle does the same. There was a play in the second quarter that stood out in particular: after air-balling a mid-ranger, Castle immediately sprinted to the baseline to knock the ball out of bounds off of a Suns player. It didn’t work because the refs called it a double dribble, but I loved the tenacity nonetheless.
- Even though he only had a dominant stretch for half a quarter, there’s no doubt that Wemby is a top 10 player in the league now. He’s by far the best defender, is virtually unstoppable to guard in the paint, and opposing teams are now flying out to challenge him from three like he’s Steph (Curry). Oh, and did I mention that he’s still just scratching the surface of his potential? There are countless times when he’s lost on defense but still recovers and makes a block due to his instincts and length. Offensively, everyone knows that the shot is still a work in progress, but once he gets that down and becomes a better decision-maker, Wemby will truly become a three-level scorer. This type of ascension only happens a few times a generation, so appreciate it while it’s happening.
- Sochan played 21:45 and ended with 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 assists. There were stretches during the game when I thought that he’d ask Booker if the Phoenix guard wanted to know where he got his scars from, but other than that, Sochan looked like his usual self. The third-year forward wreaked havoc on offense while playing tenacious defense, but the one thing to continue monitoring is his free throw shooting: Sochan went just 4-8 from the line, but I love that he doesn’t let his struggles deter him from attacking the rim.
- Vassell scored 25 shots in just 27:41 on 10-14 shooting. I think it’s time that he’s re-inserted with the starting group.
Play of the game
Aliens also have eyes in the back of their heads, I guess.
OH MAMA. pic.twitter.com/lFoy63MCdx
— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) December 4, 2024
Next game: vs Bulls on Thursday
San Antonio will look to get back in the win column on Thursday against the Bulls, who are still considered a professional NBA team.
By Bill Huan, via Pounding The Rock