By MateoMayorga | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-02-26 21:21:16
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。
在客场挑战中处于劣势
马刺队目前正处于连败之中，在过去的10场比赛中输掉了7场，遭遇三连败。 维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)因血栓将缺席本赛季剩余的所有比赛，更糟糕的是，教练米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)似乎忘记了斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)也在球队中。
下一个对手是排名第五的休斯顿火箭队，这场周三的比赛将是双方本赛季的第四次交锋。马刺队以1胜2负的战绩落后于火箭队，上一场比赛是在11月6日进行的，马刺队在客场以27分的劣势输掉了比赛。两支球队都将背靠背作战。
火箭队可能不是一支擅长外线投篮的球队，但凭借其高水平运动员的出色防守能力，将给马刺队带来麻烦。如果约翰逊在这场比赛中更多地使用克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)而不是卡斯尔，情况会更加糟糕。这位经验丰富的后卫速度较慢，力量较弱，因此他对将球传入内线的能力可能会被抵消。
除了卡斯尔之外，马刺队并不是一支擅长限制外线投篮的球队。俾斯麦·比永博(Bismack Biyombo)、查尔斯·巴锡(Charles Bassey)和桑德罗·马穆克拉什维利(Sandro Mamukelashvili)可能需要进行大量的补防，这将削弱他们在篮板球方面的优势，而火箭队是NBA中进攻篮板球最好的球队。虽然不指望马刺队能做到，但抵消火箭队进攻的一种方法是打好转换防守，但火箭队在快攻得分方面排名前三。也许德阿隆·福克斯(De’Aaron Fox)、德文·瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)或凯尔登·约翰逊(Keldon Johnson)的出色表现可以通过命中更多投篮，让火箭队更多地发球来缓解这种情况。
另一个需要关注的领域是对阿尔佩伦·申京(Alperen Şengün)的过度协防。由于 文班 缺席，申京会寻找轻松进入后防线的机会。马刺队必须进行包夹和在肘区进行前置防守，并且要注意不要暴露空切球员。挡拆防守也必须保持敏锐，在防守杰伦·格林(Jalen Green)时使用突袭和换防。他的投篮水平太高，不能让他在沉退防守中获得空位。
在进攻端，福克斯的任务将不会轻松。他的主要防守者将是阿门·汤普森(Amen Thompson)，除非他因为周二在掐住扬尼斯·安特托昆博(Giannis Antetokounmpo)颈部上方的动作而被驱逐出场并遭到禁赛。根据NBA的跟踪数据，在所有本赛季防守过福克斯的球员中，汤普森对他的防守时间排名第八(11分13秒)。这并不能说明全部情况，但在那段时间里，汤普森迫使福克斯失误的次数(4次)多于投篮命中数(2次)。
然而，福克斯有足够的速度给汤普森制造麻烦，如果他能让汤普森陷入大量的挡拆中，情况会更加糟糕。火箭队会对福克斯的突破进行积极的协防，并及时轮换到空位球员。如果 凯尔登·约翰逊 、瓦塞尔和朱利安·尚帕尼(Julian Champagnie)不能通过命中从无球掩护、下掩护和交错掩护中出来的跳投来提供帮助，这场比赛将会迅速变得难看。预计马刺队又将迎来一个缓慢的开局。
圣安东尼奥马刺队 vs 休斯顿火箭队
2025年2月26日/ 中部时间8:30
直播：ESPN/ CW35
收听：WOAI (1200 AM)
伤病报告： 各队必须在背靠背比赛第二天的当地时间下午1点前更新伤病报告。
点击查看原文：Game Preview: San Antonio Spurs at Houston Rockets
Game Preview: San Antonio Spurs at Houston Rockets
Outgunned going into hostile territory
The Spurs are in the middle of a skid after losing three in a row and seven of the last 10. Victor Wembanyama is out the rest of the year recovering from a blood clot, but to make matters worse, coach Mitch Johnson has forgotten Stephon Castle is on the team.
The next opponent is the fifth-seeded Houston Rockets on Wednesday for the fourth matchup of the season. The Spurs are 1-2 against them, with the last game played on Nov. 6, losing by 27 points on the road. Both squads are coming in on the second night of a back-to-back.
They may be a poor outside shooting team, but their defensive prowess, courtesy of high-level athletes, will be a problem for the Spurs. Even more so if Johnson uses Chris Paul more than Castle in this matchup. The veteran guard is slower and weaker, so his impact on getting the ball inside on kickouts can be neutralized.
Aside from Castle, Spurs are not a team that shuts the water off on the perimeter. Bismack Biyombo, Charles Bassey and Sandro Mamukelashvili will likely have to scramble a lot, compromising the glass against the top offensive rebounding team in the NBA. It’s not expected, but one way to offset Houston’s attack is to play transition defense well, but they are a top-three outfit in scoring in the open court. Perhaps a strong game from De’Aaron Fox, Devin Vassell or Keldon Johnson can mitigate that by hitting extra shots and having the Rockets check the ball in more often.
Another area of concern is not overhelping on Alperen Şengün. Since Wemby is absent, he will look for easy access into the back line. The Spurs will have to double and front at the elbow, plus be careful about not uncovering cutters. And screen roll defense will have to be sharp, using blitzes and a show-and-recover when guarding Jalen Green. He is too much of a high-level shooter to leave in drop coverage.
Offensively, Fox’s job won’t be easy. His primary defender will be Amen Thompson unless he is suspended for wrapping up Giannis Antetokounmpo above the neck on a play that got him ejected on Tuesday. Counting all the players who have guarded Fox this season, Thompson has checked him the eighth-most minutes (11:13), per the NBA’s tracking data. This doesn’t paint the whole story, but in that time, Thompson has forced more turnovers (4) than field goals (2).
Yet, Fox has the speed to make his life difficult and even more so if he runs him into a steady amount of screens. The Rockets will play aggressive help defense on his drives and rotate mostly on time to open players. If K. Johnson, Vassell and Julian Champagnie aren’t helping out by hitting jumpers coming off flares, down and stagger screens, this game will get ugly quickly. Count on another slow start for the Spurs, too.
San Antonio Spurs at Houston Rockets
Feb. 26, 2025/ 8:30 CT
Watch: ESPN/ CW35
Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Injury Report: Teams must update the IR by 1 p.m. local time on the second day of the back-to-back set.
By MateoMayorga, via Pounding The Rock