By Marilyn Dubinski | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-03-02 12:19:22
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。
马刺队上半场取得巨大优势，然后与自身的弱点作斗争，最终守住了胜果。
在周三休斯顿的比赛结束后，马刺队难得地享受了一次回家之旅，他们与中风后的格雷格·波波维奇(Gregg Popovich)进行了第一次面对面的交流，据报道，波波维奇给了他们一顿经典的Pop式训斥，他们似乎铭记于心。在主教练的激励下，马刺队前往孟菲斯挑战灰熊队，尽管灰熊队缺少了贾·莫兰特和德斯蒙德·贝恩，但仍然是他们的一根刺。马刺队利用上半场的强势表现建立了一个足够大的优势，克服了他们经典的糟糕表现，并在关键时刻守住了领先优势，以一场令人惊讶的胜利结束了“牛仔客场之旅”。
第一节比赛充满起伏，马刺队开局取得5-2的领先，但灰熊队随即打出一波8-0的反击。米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)派上杰里米·索汉(Jeremy Sochan)，他的能量激发了马刺队一波7-0的快速反击。双方继续交替得分并互换领先优势，之后灰熊队又打出一波7-0的攻势，短暂地以24-18领先，但马刺队再次回应了一波9-0的攻势，并在第一节结束后以31-30领先，这在很大程度上要归功于德文·瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)在第一节5投5中得到10分。
马刺队在第二节开始时再次打出一波攻势，拿下前10分，其中包括凯尔登·约翰逊(Keldon Johnson)和朱利安·尚帕涅(Julian Champagnie)的三分球。在一次暂停后，这波攻势扩大到17-2，将领先优势扩大到16分，48-32，迫使泰勒·詹金斯(Taylor Jenkins)叫了本节的第二次暂停。进攻端，马刺队的球继续流畅运转，他们在防守端和篮板球上的努力也比几周前有所改善。他们的领先优势一度达到22分，并在半场结束时以77-58领先，这是他们本赛季得分最高的半场。
但一如既往，问题在于他们能否守住领先优势。不出所料，灰熊队在下半场开始时表现得更加强硬，他们拿下了前7分。马刺队可能深知自己在保护领先优势方面的不足，进攻端显得畏手畏脚，上半场的流畅运转荡然无存，在第三节还剩9分钟时，领先优势缩小到10分。新的年度最佳防守球员热门人选（现在维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)已经没有资格），小贾伦·杰克逊(Jaren Jackson Jr.)，再次成为马刺队攻防两端的噩梦，他在本节独得42分中的18分，灰熊队将分差缩小到自第二节开始以来的最小差距，以99-96落后进入最后一节。
在第四节的前4分多钟里，马刺队能够将他们的领先优势稍微扩大一点（虽然可能没有达到预期的那么多）到114-102，而JJJ（小贾伦·杰克逊）则坐在场下，最后的4分来自尚帕涅的三分球和罚球。杰克逊重新上场后立即开始得分，但在很大程度上，马刺队能够通过主动进攻并尽早进入奖励状态来保持领先。尽管如此，灰熊队一直在步步紧逼，而马刺队在没有获得罚球机会时很难得分。
JJJ终于将比分追成125平，但在下一个回合中，扎克·伊迪(Zach Edey)在三分线上撞到了德阿隆·福克斯(De’Aaron Fox)，福克斯命中所有三个罚球，让他们在还剩29秒时重新以3分领先。JJJ的魔咒仍在继续，他命中了一个高难度（可能无意）的打板三分，但马刺队这边有2023年度关键球员福克斯，福克斯在还剩1.9秒时命中一记后撤步两分球。灰熊队暂停用完，无法推进球，圣地亚哥·阿尔达马(Santi Aldama)从中场超远距离投篮不中，马刺队以130-128爆冷获胜。
比赛笔记
- 比赛开始后不久，米奇·约翰逊做出了一个有趣的调整，他派上了索汉，而他和俾斯麦·比永博(Bismack Biyombo)在剩下的时间里基本上互换了角色，索汉首发下半场，而比永博则替补出场。这可能是为了让一个身材更大的球员来对付伊迪，过去伊迪几乎无法与马刺队比赛，因为他根本不是文班亚马的对手。尽管轮换发生了变化，伊迪仍然能够利用马刺队的身材劣势，7投7中得到17分，9个篮板和3个盖帽（但感觉更多——现在我们知道对手在文班亚马身边是什么感觉了）。
- 自全明星赛以来表现挣扎的两名球员似乎已经重新找到了状态。瓦塞尔在过去的几场比赛中一直在进步，但在今晚真正爆发，尤其是在上半场，他得到了20分中的13分。另一位是斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)，米奇·约翰逊承认他因为努力程度不够和决策失误而被“关进小黑屋”。他在休斯顿的垃圾时间里有所爆发，但今晚真的又找回了往日的状态，拿下全队最高的24分和7次助攻，只有1次失误，同时不知疲倦且高效地冲击篮筐。
- 录像回放已经失控了。马刺队在第一节挑战了一次出界判罚，当时凯尔登·约翰逊从GG·杰克逊(GG Jackson)手中断球，球碰到了他的大腿而出界。这很明显，但回放似乎花费了很长时间。显然，他们是在查看约翰逊是否有犯规行为来使球脱手，在经过异常漫长的回放后，裁判泰勒·福特(Tyler Ford)对每一次接触都进行了冗长的解释，只是为了说明没有犯规，球是碰到杰克逊而出界，所以球权归马刺队。这真的不应该花这么长时间。
比赛最佳时刻
如果我们要说实话，那应该是福克斯的绝杀球，但卡斯尔在上半场的这个假动作和扣篮让我整晚都印象深刻，并且似乎证实了他已经回来了。
天哪！斯蒂芬！pic.twitter.com/bgRAuGssAV
— 圣安东尼奥马刺队 (@ spurs) 2025年3月2日
接下来：周日对阵俄克拉荷马城雷霆队
马刺队终于在29天后首次回到主场，这意味着这将是德阿隆·福克斯在圣安东尼奥的首秀。这将不是一场轻松的比赛，但谁知道呢？也许这两个因素会对他们有利。比赛将于美国中部时间下午6:00在ESPN和FanDuel Sports进行直播。
点击查看原文：Spurs show grit in surprising win against Grizzlies to close Rodeo Road Trip
Spurs show grit in surprising win against Grizzlies to close Rodeo Road Trip
The Spurs got out big in the first half, then fought their own demons to hold for the win.
Able to enjoy a rare trip home after playing in Houston on Wednesday, the Spurs had their first face-to-face with Gregg Popovich since his stroke, and he reportedly gave them a classic Pop tongue lashing they seemed to take it to heart. Motivated by their head coach’s words, the Spurs went into Memphis to face a Grizzlies squad that was missing Ja Morant and Desmond Bane but is still always a thorn in their side. The Spurs used a strong first half to build just a big enough cushion to overcome one of their classic turd quarters and held on down the stretch for a surprising win to close out the Rodeo Road Trip.
The first quarter was streaky as the Spurs got out to a quick 5-2 lead, but the Grizzlies responded with an 8-0 run of their own. Mitch Johnson responded by bringing in Jeremy Sochan, whose energy sparked a quick 7-0 Spurs run. The teams continued to trade buckets and the lead before another 7-0 run from the Grizzles briefly gave them a 24-18 lead, but again, the Spurs responded with a 9-0 run themselves and led 31-30 after the first quarter, in no small part thanks to 10-point first quarter on 5-6 shooting from Devin Vassell.
The Spurs had another run in them to start the second quarter, scoring the first 10 points, including threes from Keldon Johnson and Julian Champagine. The run stretched to 17-2 after a timeout to get the lead out to 16, 48-32, forcing Taylor Jenkins to burn his second timeout of the quarter. The ball continued to move for the Spurs on offense, and their effort on defense and on the boards was better than it had been in weeks. They got the lead as high as 22 and led 77-58 at the halftime, marking their highest scoring half of the season.
But as always, the question was could they protect it. The Grizzlies’ effort was unsurprisingly much stronger to start the second half, as they scored the first seven points. Likely knowing about their own struggles with protecting leads, the Spurs were timid on offense, with all their ball movement from the first half gone, and the lead was down to 10 fine minutes into the quarter. The new presumptive favorite for Defensive Player of the Year (now that Victor Wembanyama is ineligible), Jaren Jackson Jr., went back to being the pain he always is in the Spurs’ side on both ends with 18 of his 42 points in the quarter, and the Grizzlies were at their closest since the beginning of the second quarter, down just 99-96 heading into the final frame.
The Spurs were able to expand their lead a bit (although perhaps not as much as hoped) to 114-102 in the first 4+ minutes of the fourth quarter while JJJ sat, the final four of which came off a Chamagnie three and free throw. Jackson Jr. went right back to scoring when he re-entered, but for the most part, the Spurs were able to stay ahead by forcing the issue and getting into the bonus early. Still, the Grizzlies kept inching closer and closer while the Spurs struggled to score when they didn’t get to the line.
JJJ finally tied at 125 apiece, but Zach Edey ran into De’Aaron Fox on a three on the next possession, and he hit all three free throws to get them back up with three with 29 second left. The JJJ curse continued, as he hit in a well contested three that (likely unintentionally) banked in, but the Spurs had the 2023 Clutch Player of the Year on their side, and Fox hit a step back two with 1.9 seconds left. The Grizzlies were out of timeouts and couldn’t advance the ball, and a Santi Aldama prayer from beyond mid-court was short, handing the Spurs the surprise 130-128 win.
Game Notes
- In an interesting adjustment, not long after the start of the game, Mitch Johnson brought in Sochan, and he and Bismack Biyombo essentially swapped roles the rest of the way, with Sochan starting the second half and Biyombo coming off the bench. This was likely an attempt to have a bigger man on Edey, who in the past has barely been able to play against the Spurs because he was no match for Wemby. Despite the rotation swap, Edey was still able to take advantage of the Spurs’ lack of size with 17 points on 7-7 shooting, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks (although it felt like more — now we know how opponents feel around Wemby).
- Two players who have struggled mightily since the All-Star break seem to have found their stride again. Vassell had been coming on in the last couple of games but really broke out tonight, especially in the first half when he had 13 of his 20 points. The other was Stephon Castle, whom Mitch Johnson had admitted was in the dog house for poor effort and decision-making. He broke out a bit in garbage time in Houston but truly looked like his old self again tonight, with a team-high 24 points and 7 assists to just 1 turnover while relentlessly and efficiently attacking the rim.
- Video review is out of hand. The Spurs challenged an out-of-bounds call in the first quarter where Keldon Johnson stripped the ball from GG Jackson, and the ball went out off his thigh. It was pretty obvious, but the review seemingly took forever. Apparently they were seeing if Johnson had committed a foul to dislodge the ball, and after an unusually long review, official Tyler Ford gave a long-winded explanation about every ounce of contact, just to say there was no foul and the ball was off Jackson, so it was Spurs ball. It just shouldn’t take this long.
Play of the Game
If we’re being really honest, it should go to Fox’s game winner, but this Castle fake and dunk in the first half stuck with me all night and really seemed to confirm that he is back.
OH MYYYY STEPH pic.twitter.com/bgRAuGssAV
— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) March 2, 2025
Up next: Sunday vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
The Spurs finally return home for the first time in 29 days, meaning this will be De’Aaron Fox’s San Antonio debut. It won’t be an easy game, but who knows? Maybe those two factors will work in their favor. Tip-off will be at 6:00 PM CT on ESPN and FanDuel Sports.
By Marilyn Dubinski, via Pounding The Rock
