By Jeje Gomez | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2024-12-16 11:40:27
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。
马刺队的防守不错，但在进攻端难以招架对手的强悍身体对抗。
银黑军团未能将连胜延续到三场。对于马刺队来说，明尼苏达森林狼队实在难以应付。马刺队在半场进攻中缺乏身体对抗，无法投进三分球，也无法通过快攻得分来弥补不足，最终以92-106落败。
比赛一开始，马刺队试图用防守来定下基调。杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan)在限制朱利叶斯·兰德尔方面做得不错，而文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)则熟练地保护着内线。在进攻端，他们两人试图通过内线传球来解决他们经常遇到的错位和空间问题。在比赛开始的几分钟里，这足以让比赛保持胶着状态，直到客队找到了进攻节奏，跳投也开始找到感觉。安东尼·爱德华兹扛起了一段时间的得分重任，但其他人也逐渐参与进来。与此同时，圣安东尼奥开场几分钟的球和球员移动消失了几个回合。当他们转移球时，他们找到了不错的出手机会，但即使是这些机会也不总能转化为得分。首节结束，森林狼队领先9分。
马刺队在第一节后半段遇到的进攻困境，由于森林狼队防守强度的增加而变得更加严重。圣安东尼奥的进攻毫无流畅可言，每一次运球和传球都显得吃力。失误不断累积，更糟糕的是，他们创造出的良好外线投篮机会也未能命中。有一些精彩的时刻，文班在防守端无处不在，直接或通过他的牵制力创造了一些投篮机会，但团队的失误超过了任何个人的出色表现。在另一端，银黑军团在内线的防守做得不错，但森林狼队投进了他们的三分球，并抢到了一些进攻篮板来弥补他们的失误。连续第二节，圣安东尼奥的得分低于20分，落后15分。
下半场开始，马刺队的外线投篮终于打开了。哈里森·巴恩斯命中了一些关键的三分球，为进攻注入了一些活力，但真正为球队逆转带来希望的是银黑军团球员们展现出的全新能量。圣安东尼奥在争抢篮板球，赢得50%的球权，文班亚马则提供了精英级别的篮筐保护。分差缩小到只有3分，即使由于斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)的一些新秀时刻和德文·瓦塞尔在需要他创造投篮机会的阵容中缺乏贡献导致第三节末段表现糟糕，也没能阻止球队的反击势头。进入最后一节时，客队仍然领先6分，但在那时，他们看起来不像上半场那样完全掌控比赛。
唉，第三节只是个例外。三分球再次停止落入篮筐，强行突破的尝试也以失败告终。很难让文班参与到进攻中，丹特·迪温琴佐和鲁迪·戈贝尔的挡拆配合让森林狼队在马刺队近四分钟的得分荒后将领先优势重新扩大到两位数。在那之后，明尼苏达的进攻势如破竹，在另一端再次压制了圣安东尼奥，使得每一次半场进攻都变得险象环生。马刺队得到了一些防守停顿，防止了比赛变成一边倒的局面，但没能得到足够的分数来发起反击，最终，很明显他们将无法逆转。比赛还剩三分钟，落后20分时，米奇·约翰逊鸣金收兵，换上了替补球员。
比赛最佳球
马刺队应该更多地使用这个5号位和4号位的挡拆战术。
JER暴扣 pic.twitter.com/7BYHONovM5
— 圣安东尼奥马刺队 (@ spurs) 2024年12月16日
比赛记录：
- 文班亚马得到20分，但他用了20次出手才达到这个分数，因为他的外线投篮失准，而且只获得了三次罚球机会。下半场他只有一次助攻，但球队更多地将球权交给了后卫，所以很难责怪他。他仍然拿下了20分、10个篮板、5次助攻和7次盖帽的数据，因为他是个怪物。
- 杰里米·索汉10投得到17分，外加15个篮板、4次助攻、1次抢断和1次盖帽。和文班一样，他几乎无所不能，在防守端也有一些高光时刻。当他和文班亚马同时在场时，进攻端仍然存在一些问题，但教练组试图通过将他作为中锋，文班作为大前锋，并使用前面提到的内线传球来解决一些空间问题。赛后，米奇·约翰逊被问及索汉回归首发阵容是否会成为常态，虽然他没有给出明确的答案，但他暗示索汉将继续首发。
- 克里斯·保罗没有得分，但送出了9次助攻。一个新出现的问题是，对手已经发现，当他们用更大的防守球员来防守他并施加压力时，就能给他造成困扰。在这种情况下，保罗会聪明地把球权交给其他后卫，但马刺队没有很多经验丰富的组织者，所以他们进入战术的时间较晚。特雷·琼斯的回归可能会有所帮助。
- 斯蒂芬·卡斯尔在回到替补席后打了一场噩梦般的比赛。虽然有一些好的表现，但他在进攻端运球过多，强行出手（8投2中，5次助攻，但有3次失误），在防守端也没有发挥作用。对于一个新秀来说，遇到困难是很正常的，所以这场比赛的表现并不算什么大事，但在德文·瓦塞尔状态不佳的夜晚，卡斯尔无法做出贡献的影响就显现出来了。
- 朱利安·尚帕尼的外线投篮不佳，但他继续出手，并找到了其他方式来做出贡献。哈里森·巴恩斯则投进了一些及时的进球，尤其是在第三节。这两个人继续保持着足够好的表现来保住他们的首发位置，这对约翰逊教练来说是一个幸福的烦恼。
- 三名替补球员的出场时间可能应该更多一些。布雷克·韦斯利在场上的时候，在卡斯尔表现挣扎的情况下，本可以提供帮助。桑德罗·马穆克拉什维利只得到了9分钟的出场时间，部分原因是马刺队几次用尚帕尼打小球阵容，让他出任大前锋，但桑德罗投进了一个三分球，并送出了一次漂亮的助攻。查尔斯·巴塞伊得到了他的15分钟出场时间，但其中一些时间是在垃圾时间。约翰逊调整了文班的出场模式，让他在第一节多打了一会儿，并且在第四节没有让他休息。维克多在比赛后期看起来很疲惫，所以早点让巴塞伊上场可能是个好主意。
下一场比赛：周四对阵亚特兰大老鹰队
马刺队将有三天的时间来恢复健康。击败老鹰队至关重要，因为圣安东尼奥拥有亚特兰大2025年的选秀权。
点击查看原文：Spurs' timid offense dooms them against physical Timberwolves
Spurs’ timid offense dooms them against physical Timberwolves
The Spurs defended well but struggled to handle their opponent’s physicality on the other end.
The Silver and Black couldn’t extend their winning streak to three. The Minnesota Timberwolves were simply too much to handle for a Spurs team that lacked physicality on half-court offense and couldn’t hit three-pointers or get fastbreak points to make up for it, en route to a 106-92 loss.
The Spurs started off trying to set the tone with their defense. Jeremy Sochan was doing a solid job of containing Julius Randle and Victor Wembanyama was expertly protecting the paint. On the other end, those two attempted to solve the crossmatch and spacing issues they often run into with interior passing. That was enough to keep the game mostly close in the opening minutes before the visitors found their rhythm on offense and their touch on jumpers. Anthony Edwards carried the scoring load for a while, but slowly but surely others got involved. Meanwhile, the ball and player movement of the opening minutes disappeared for San Antonio for multiple possessions. When they moved the ball, they found good looks, but even those not always went in. After one, the Timberwolves were up nine points.
The offensive struggles the Spurs went through in the second half of the first quarter were only exacerbated by an increase in physicality from the Wolves’ defense. There was nothing crisp about San Antonio’s attack, as every dribble and pass took effort. Turnovers piled up and, making matters much worse, the good outside looks they could create refused to go in. There were good moments in which Wemby was everywhere on defense and created some shots directly or through his gravity, but the communal mistakes outweighed any individual good. On the other end, the Silver and Black were doing a decent job in the paint but the Wolves made their threes and got some offensive boards to make up for their turnovers. For the second straight quarter, San Antonio was below 20 points and trailed by 15.
The lid finally came off the basket for the Spurs from outside to start the second half. Harrison Barnes hit some huge threes to give the offense some life, but what really provided realistic hopes for a comeback was the newfound energy displayed by the guys wearing Silver and Black. San Antonio was contesting rebounds, winning 50/50 balls and had Victor Wembanyama providing elite rim protection. The deficit was cut to just three and not even a sloppy end of the frame due to some rookie moments from Stephon Castle and a lack of contributions from Vassell on lineups that needed his shot creation derailed the comeback attempt. The visitors were still up six heading into the final period but at that point didn’t look as fully in control of the game as they were in the first half.
Alas, the third quarter was the anomaly. The threes stopped falling again and the attempts to force drives were unsuccessful. It was hard to get Wembanyama involved on offense and the Donte DiVincenzo - Rudy Gobert duo connected on a couple of pick-and-rolls that allowed the Wolves to get the lead back to double digits after a near four-minute drought for the Spurs. After that, Minnesota was rolling on offense and was once again outmuscling San Antonio on the other end, making every half-court possession an adventure. The Spurs got some stops to prevent a blowout for a while but couldn’t get enough buckets to make a push and eventually, it became evident that there would be no comeback. With three minutes to go and down 20, Mitch Johnson pulled the plug and emptied his bench.
Play of the game
The Spurs should use this 5-4 pick and roll more often.
THROW IT DOWN JER pic.twitter.com/7BYHONovM5
— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) December 16, 2024
Game notes:
- Victor Wembanyama had 20 points but it took him 20 shots to get there, as his outside shot failed him and he only took three free throws. He also logged only one dime in the second half, but the team went away from him and to a more guard-heavy attack, so it’s hard to blame him. He still posted a 20-point, 10-rebound, five-assist, seven-block stat line because he’s a monster.
- Jeremy Sochan had 17 points on 10 shots to go with 15 rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block. Like Wemby, he did a bit of everything, as he also had some great moments on defense. There are still some issues when he shares the floor with Wembanyama on offense but the coaching staff is trying to solve them by essentially playing him as the center and Wemby as the power forward and using the aforementioned interior passing to negate some of the spacing issues. Mitch Johnson was asked about Sochan’s return to the starting lineup being permanent after the game and while he wasn’t conclusive he hinted that Sochan will continue to start.
- Chris Paul went scoreless but dished nine assists. An emerging issue is that opponents have figured out that they can bother him when they put a bigger defender on him and apply pressure. Paul smartly defers to other guards when that happens, but the Spurs don’t have a lot of experienced playmakers, so they get into their sets late. Tre Jones’ return could help there.
- Stephon Castle had a nightmare of a game in his return to the bench. There were good moments, but he overdribbled and forced things on offense (two points on eight shots, five assists but three turnovers) and wasn’t a factor on defense. It’s normal for a rookie to struggle, so this performance is not a huge deal, but on a night in which Devin Vassell didn’t have it, Castle’s inability to make an impact was felt.
- Julian Champagnie didn’t have it going from outside but continued to shoot and found ways to contribute in other ways. Harrison Barnes just made timely buckets, especially in the third. The two continue to play well enough to keep their starting spots, which is a good problem for Coach Johnson.
- Three deep bench guys probably should have played more. Blake Wesley when he was on the floor and with Castle struggling could have helped. Sandro Mamukelashvili only got nine minutes in part because the Spurs went small with Champagnie at power forward a couple of times but made a three and had a pretty assist. Charles Bassey got his 15 minutes but some of those came in garbage time. Johnson tweaked Wemby’s on-court pattern by leaving him on the floor a little longer in the first quarter and not resting him in the fourth. Victor looked gassed late, so more Bassey earlier would have probably been a good idea.
Next game: vs. Atlanta Hawks on Thursday
The Spurs will have three days off to get healthy. Beating the Hawks is doubly important, as San Antonio owns Atlanta’s 2025 draft pick.
By Jeje Gomez, via Pounding The Rock