By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-01-28 16:25:19
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。
2025年1月15日，德克萨斯州圣安东尼奥，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫德文·瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)（24号）和中锋维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)（1号）在对阵孟菲斯灰熊队的比赛上半场暂停期间交谈。马刺队以115-129负于灰熊队。
即使在上周从巴黎回来后休息了48小时，一些马刺球员在周二的训练中仍然在克服时差。
“正在努力适应这个时区等等，但我感觉还不错，”德文·瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)在训练后说道。“我很高兴我们有这两天的休息时间。”
结束了法国之行，想必双腿也恢复了活力，马刺现在的目标是努力回到附加赛/季后赛的竞争行列。
这并不容易。
由于马刺几乎整个二月份都在客场征战，他们认为即将到来的、以周三晚上对阵洛杉矶快船的比赛开始的三个主场比赛的成功至关重要，这将决定他们能否重回季后赛席位的争夺。
“我认为，任何有机会在主场作战、利用主场优势的时候，我们都应该抓住这些机会，努力赢得比赛，”新秀斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)说道。“接下来的几周我们都将在客场征战，所以为了让自己回到季后赛的竞争中，我们真的需要拿下这些比赛。”
马刺队在最近九场比赛中输掉了七场，目前战绩为20胜23负，位列西部第12位，落后排名第10的萨克拉门托2.5个胜场，而他们一度曾攀升至西部第8。在分别于周五和周六对阵密尔沃基和迈阿密之后，马刺队要等到3月2日主场迎战俄克拉荷马城雷霆队，才能再次在弗罗斯特银行中心打球。
这意味着他们将连续进行12场客场比赛，尽管2月20日至21日在奥斯汀对阵菲尼克斯和底特律的比赛被算作主场比赛。
“这将是一场考验，”瓦塞尔说道。“我们必须做好治疗和恢复。我们必须确保我们做的是正确的事情。但这将是一场考验。没有人会同情我们。我们必须在每场比赛中都保持专注。我们不能掉以轻心。我们不能轻视任何对手。我们将要面对一系列实力不俗的球队，所以这对我们来说是一个很好的考验。”
首先是快船队，他们在周一于菲尼克斯以109-111输给太阳队后，以26胜20负的战绩排在西部第六。本场比赛将是快船队本赛季第一次在科怀·伦纳德的带领下对阵马刺队。
本赛季马刺和快船此前的两场比赛中各胜一场，马刺在最近一次，也就是新年前夜的交锋中以122-86大胜。维克多·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)在那场比赛中26分钟内拿下27分、9个篮板、5次助攻和3次盖帽，结束了具有历史意义的一个月。
自那场比赛以来，马刺队的战绩为3胜7负，其中包括在巴黎以98-136输给步行者队，而两天前他们才在法国的首场比赛中大胜步行者队。在前往法国之前，他们以107-128输给了迈阿密热火队。
在巴黎与步行者队一胜一负的比赛结果凸显了困扰马刺整个赛季的问题：缺乏稳定性。
“对我们来说，关键在于日积月累，以及‘我们如何才能继续连胜？’”控球后卫克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)说道。“过去几周我们有很多比赛都咬得很紧，但比赛中总会出现一段糟糕的时期。我们已经讨论过这个问题了。”
瓦塞尔也指出了缺乏稳定性，包括他自己的比赛。
一个典型的例子：在巴黎战胜步行者队的比赛中，他13投9中得到25分，其中三分球6投5中；而在大比分失利的比赛中，他8投2中，三分球6投2中，只得到6分。
“我不会说那对我来说是一场（糟糕的）投篮比赛，只是让他们几乎把我排除在比赛之外，阻止我成为球队的关键一员，”瓦塞尔说道。“所以，我看了很多比赛录像。我正在学习。他们有不同的防守策略。无论他们是否对我严防死守，无论情况如何，我都必须保持参与比赛，保持侵略性。”
如果瓦塞尔和马刺队想要利用接下来的三个主场比赛，他们就必须迅速找到答案。本赛季马刺队的主场战绩为12胜11负，目前遭遇主场四连败，尽管其中一场失利是上周六在巴黎的“主场”比赛。
马刺队在周三的比赛中还将面对胜率超过50%的对手，他们目前的战绩为10胜15负。
“这些比赛非常重要，”瓦塞尔谈到接下来的三场比赛时说道。“我们必须认真对待每一场比赛，但这些都是主场比赛。我们感觉好像很久没有打过主场比赛了，所以我们必须好好利用这些机会。”
Los Angeles Clippers’ Kobe Brown, right, drives against San Antonio Spurs’ Tre Jones (33) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, in San Antonio.
PARIS, FRANCE - JANUARY 25: Stephon Castle #5 of the San Antonio Spurs shoots the ball against Bennedict Mathurin #00 of the Indiana Pacers during the third quarter at The Accor Arena on January 25, 2025 in Paris, France.
点击查看原文：Spurs view success in homestand a must with long road stretch looming
Spurs view success in homestand a must with long road stretch looming
San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) and center Victor Wembanyama (1) talk during a timeout in the first half against the Memphis Grizzlies Frost Bank Center on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025, in San Antonio, Texas. The Spurs fell to the Grizzlies, 129-115.
Even after 48 hours of rest following their return from last week’s Paris trip, some of the Spurs were still fighting jet lag at practice Tuesday.
“Trying to get back to this time zone and everything, but I’m good,” Devin Vassell said after the workout. “I’m glad we had these two days off.”
With France behind them and their legs presumably back underneath them, the Spurs’ goal now is to fight their way back into the play-in/playoff picture.
It won’t be easy.
With the Spurs spending nearly all of February on the road, they’re viewing success on the three-game homestand that begins against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night as vital if they are going to rejoin the competition for a postseason berth.
“Any chance we get an opportunity to play at home with the advantage we have here, I feel like we should take those opportunities and try and win those games,” rookie Stephon Castle said. “We’re going to be on the road for the next couple of weeks, so just to get ourselves back into that playoff picture, we really going to need those games.”
The Spurs, who are 20-23 after losing seven of their last nine games, are in 12th place in the Western Conference, 2½ games behind 10th-place Sacramento after reaching as high as eight place at one point. After closing their homestand with games against Milwaukee on Friday and Miami on Saturday, the Spurs won’t play again at the Frost Bank Center until they host Oklahoma City on March 2.
That’s 12 straight games on the road, although outings against Phoenix and Detroit on Feb. 20-21 in Austin are considered home games.
“It’s just going to be a test,” Vassell said. “We got to get our treatment in. We got to make sure we’re doing the right stuff. But it’s going to be a test. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. We just got to be locked in every game. We can’t take any games for granted. We can’t overlook anybody. We got a good stretch of teams we’re playing, so it is a good test for us.”
It begins with the Clippers, who are in sixth place in the West with a 26-20 record after losing 111-109 to the Suns on Monday in Phoenix and will face the Spurs for the first time this season with Kawhi Leonard in the lineup.
The Spurs and Clippers split their two previous games this season, with the Spurs rolling to a 122-86 win in the last meeting, which occurred on New Year’s Eve. Victor Wembanyama closed out a historic month with 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocks in 26 minutes in that outing.
The Spurs are 3-7 since then, including a 136-98 loss to Indiana on Saturday in Paris two days after blowing out the Pacers in the team’s first meeting in France. Before leaving for France, they lost 128-107 at Miami.
The split in Paris against Indiana underscored a problem that has plagued the Spurs all season: A lack of consistency.
"For us, it’s all about stacking days and, ‘How can we continue to put wins together?’ " point guard Chris Paul said. “We had a lot of games over the past couple of weeks where we’re always in the game, and then there’s a bad stretch of the game. We’ve talked about it.”
Vassell also pointed to a lack of consistency, including in his own game.
Case in point: After scoring 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including 5 for 6 from 3-point range, in the win over the Pacers in Paris, he had just six points on 2 of 8 and 2 of 6 in the blowout loss.
“I wouldn’t say it was too much of a (poor) shooting game for me, it was just letting them almost take me out of the game and stop me from being a key piece of the team,” Vassell said. “So, I’ve watched a lot of film. I’m learning. There are different coverages. Whether they’re denying me, whatever the case may be, I just got to stay involved in the game and be aggressive.”
Vassell and the Spurs will have to find answers quickly if they are going to take advantage of playing the next three games at home, where they are 12-11 this season after losing four in a row, although one of those losses came in a the “home” game last Saturday in Paris.
The Spurs also enter Wednesday’s game with a 10-15 record against opponents over .500.
“These are huge,” Vassell said of the next three games. “We got to take each game obviously as they are, but these are some home games. We haven’t had home games that feels like in forever, so we got to take advantage of these.”
By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer, via San Antonio Express-News