By Marilyn Dubinski | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-02-26 12:30:00
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。
这次没有完全失控，但马刺在保护舒适领先优势方面的挣扎仍在继续。
赛程日益艰难，马刺队发现自己连续第二次面对新奥尔良鹈鹕队，希望利用这支战绩更差且伤病问题相似的球队的弱点——并且寄希望于弱队很少会横扫迷你系列赛的想法——但事与愿违。与周日比赛的类似主题一样，马刺队取得了巨大的领先优势，在第二节初最多领先19分，但鹈鹕队奋起直追，再次偷走一场胜利。
在周日三分球命中率不佳之后，马刺队的开局更好，哈里森·巴恩斯命中了他的前三个三分球，并且他们在防守端冲击传球路线，在第一节中段取得了23-8的领先优势。进攻一度有点停滞，但防守仍然很出色，尽管鹈鹕队的替补阵容试图加快节奏，在第一个12分钟后，杰里米·索汉压哨抛投命中，马刺队以30-16领先。
他们在第二节初继续扩大领先优势至35-16，但像往常一样，问题是他们能否守住它。与上一场比赛（以及——查看记录——过去两个赛季的另外32场比赛）类似，答案是否定的。他们再次无法突破20分的门槛，米奇·约翰逊不得不叫暂停，此前新奥尔良通过连续两个三分球将领先优势缩小到11分，39-28。他很快又不得不叫暂停，在马刺队一连串的失误后，领先优势被缩小到49-42，马刺队无法阻止鹈鹕队的转换进攻，即使是在他们自己投篮命中的情况下。到半场结束时，领先优势已经缩小到只有两分，51-49。
如果说与上一场比赛有什么不同的话，那就是马刺队实际上在休息后做出了回应。德文·瓦塞尔终于开始冲击油漆区，摆脱了他持续数场的低迷状态，在第三节开始时迅速得到7分，将领先优势再次扩大到9分。总的来说，对于两支球队来说，这都不是一个漂亮的进攻回合，但这对马刺队有利，他们实际上赢得了这一节，保持了领先优势，以83-79进入第四节。
不幸的是，他们再也无法守住优势，鹈鹕队在第四节开局连得6分，取得了本场比赛的首次领先。马刺队在篮板方面的挣扎在面对更大的鹈鹕队阵容时仍在继续，但值得称赞的是，他们一直在战斗，这比周日的情况要好得多。他们在比赛还剩4分27秒时凭借德阿隆·福克斯的三分球短暂地以100-99重新取得领先，但那也是他们能做到的全部了。鹈鹕队在接下来的两分钟内打出了一波8-0的攻势，这对马刺队来说太难以克服了，他们最终以103-109失利。
比赛笔记
- 米奇·约翰逊在上一场比赛后表示，德文·瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)需要从自己关于低迷状态的想法中走出来。在过去的比赛中，当他投篮不中时，你可以看到他对自己的沮丧，但他的肢体语言在今晚更好。尽管开局缓慢，但他终于在第二节命中了一个三分球，正如前面提到的，在下半场，他停止沉迷于跳投，开始冲击篮筐。他以20分结束了比赛，虽然他16投6中，但他第一节之后12投6中，并且罚球6投6中。这不是他有史以来最伟大的比赛，但这对他来说是一场非常需要的表现，并且有望起到摆脱低迷的作用。
- 说到低迷，瓦塞尔的低迷状态在某种程度上掩盖了斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)全明星赛后的低迷状态。当他在场上时，他再次基本上是隐形的，他的投篮偏短，决策也很糟糕。他今晚只打了12分钟，得到4分和3次失误，虽然有些人会说他的低迷是因为他替补出场（在全明星赛前这不是问题，为什么现在会是？），但上场时间少可能是教练组试图让他得到他在全明星赛期间没有得到的喘息机会。即便如此，他也需要一个摆脱低迷的机会，所以迟早他们将不得不再次提高他的角色。
- 失误既能给予，也能夺走。两支球队在保护球方面都做得非常糟糕，马刺队因20次失误丢掉了26分，而鹈鹕队19次失误让马刺队得到了25分。这可能让一切看起来像是一场洗牌，但时机至关重要。当马刺队在早期取得巨大领先优势，并在下半场做出小幅反击以保持接近时，这来自于在传球路线上抢断14次。然而，这也是鹈鹕队如何让自己重返比赛的方式，他们也在快攻中以23-5击败了马刺队，令人沮丧的是，有时这是在马刺队投篮命中的情况下发生的。在赛季剩余的大部分时间里，马刺队在天赋上都将处于劣势，因此他们必须注意控球并退防，才有机会获胜。
最佳镜头
桑德罗·马穆克拉什维利在查尔斯·巴锡再次缺阵的情况下担任了12分钟的替补中锋，虽然三分球没有命中，但他总能找到贡献的方式，就像这次二次进攻中的高空扣篮一样。
MAMUUUUUUU pic.twitter.com/3sS6r4AfpO
— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) February 26, 2025
下一场：周三客场挑战休斯顿火箭
马刺队将跨越萨宾河，参加牛仔竞技表演之旅的倒数第二场比赛，对手是休斯顿火箭队，他们在经历了赛季中期的低迷后，开始重新站稳脚跟。比赛将于中部时间晚上8:30在ESPN和CW35频道播出。
点击查看原文：Spurs blow another big lead in second straight loss to Pelicans
Spurs blow another big lead in second straight loss to Pelicans
It didn’t get out of hand this time, but the Spurs’ struggles with protecting comfortable leads continue.
With the schedule not getting any easier, the Spurs found themselves facing the New Orleans Pelicans for a second straight time, hoping to take advantage of a team with a worse record and similar injury issues — plus banking on the idea that bad teams rarely sweep miniseries — but it was not meant to be. In a similar theme to Sunday’s match-up, the Spurs got out to a big lead, leading by as much as 19 early in the second quarter before the Pelicans came roaring back to steal another win.
After a poor shooting night from three on Sunday, the Spurs started better with Harrison Barnes hitting his first three threes, and they attacked the passing lanes on defense to get out to a 23-8 lead midway through the first quarter. The offense went a little cold for a spell, but the defense remained elite despite the Pelicans’ bench unit trying to pick up the pace, and Spurs led 30-16 on a Jeremy Sochan buzzer-beater floater after the first 12 minutes.
They continued to stretch the lead 35-16 early in the second quarter, but per usual, the question was could they protect it. Similar to the last game (and — checks notes — 32 others over the last two seasons), the answer was no. They again couldn’t get over the 20-point threshold, and Mitch Johnson had to call a timeout after New Orleans had cut the lead to 11, 39-28, off back-to-back threes. He soon had to call another timeout the lead was cut to 49-42 after a spate of turnovers, and the Spurs couldn’t stop the Pelicans in transition, even off their own makes. By halftime, the lead had dwindled all the way down to two, 51-49.
If there was one difference from the last game, it was that the Spurs actually responded after the break. Devin Vassell finally started attacking the paint to bust out of his games-long slump to start the third quarter, getting seven quick points to get the lead back out to nine. Overall, it wasn’t the prettiest offensive quarter for either team, but that was to the Spurs’ advantage, and they actually won the quarter to maintain the lead, heading into the fourth up 83-79.
Unfortunately, they could hold on no longer as the Pelicans scored the first six points of the quarter to take their first lead of the game. The Spurs’ rebounding struggles continued against the bigger Pelicans lineups, but to their credit, they kept fighting, which was more than could be said for Sunday. They briefly retook the lead at 100-99 with 4:27 left on a De’Aaron Fox three, but that was all they could muster up. The Pelicans went on an 8-0 run over the next two minutes, and that was too much for the Spurs to overcome as they fell 103-109.
Game Notes
- Mitch Johnson said after the last game that Devin Vassell needs to get out of his own head regarding his slump. You could see his frustration with himself in past games when he missed shots, but his body language was better tonight. Despite a slow start, he finally saw a three fall in the second quarter, and as previously mentioned, in the second half he stopped settling for jumpers and started attacking the rim. He finished the game with 20 points, and while he only shot 6-16 from the field, he was 6-12 after the first quarter and went a perfect 6-6 from the line. It wasn’t his greatest game ever, but it was a performance that he desperately needed and will hopefully act as a slump-buster.
- Speaking of slumps, Vassell’s has kind of overshadowed Stephon Castle’s post-All-Star break slump. He once again was mostly invisible when he was out there, with his shots coming up short and his decision making being poor. He only played 12 minutes tonight with 4 points and 3 turnovers, and while some will say his slump is because he’s coming off the bench (it wasn’t a problem before the break, so why would it be now?), the low minutes may be the coaching staff trying to give him the breather he didn’t get during the break. That being said, he too will need a chance to play out of his slump, so sooner than later, they will have to ramp up his role again.
- Turnovers giveth, and turnovers taketh away. Both teams had a horrible time protecting the ball, with the Spurs conceding 26 points off 20 turnovers, and the Pelicans giving it away 19 times for 25 Spurs points. That may make everything seem like a wash, but the timing was crucial. When the Spurs got out big early and made their small runs in the second half to keep things close, it came from playing the passing lanes for 14 steals. However, that was also how the Pelicans got themselves back in the game, and they also killed the Spurs on the fast break 23-5, frustratingly off of made baskets at times. The Spurs are going to be at a talent disadvantage for most nights the rest of the season, so they have to take care of the ball and get back on defense to stand a chance.
Play of the Game
Sandro Mamukelashvili got 12 minutes at backup center with Charles Bassey out again, and while the threes weren’t falling, he always finds ways to contribute, like this high flying dunk on the second effort.
MAMUUUUUUU pic.twitter.com/3sS6r4AfpO
— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) February 26, 2025
Up next: Wednesday at Houston Rockets
The Spurs will hop over the Sabine River for the penultimate game of the Rodeo Road Trip against a Rockets team that is starting to regain its footing after a mid-season slump. Tip-off will be at 8:30 PM CT on ESPN and CW35.
By Marilyn Dubinski, via Pounding The Rock