By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-03-26 12:59:29
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。
克利夫兰——底特律活塞队新任主教练J.B. 比克斯塔夫在研究马刺队的比赛录像时，德文·瓦塞尔(Devin Vassell)最近的表现让他眼前一亮。
“他在进攻端充满活力，”比克斯塔夫说，“他给你施加了很大的压力。感觉每一次触球都带有强烈的得分意图。他有能力运球突破，他可以投篮，他可以在一对一的情况下创造机会。他似乎在进攻端总是领先一步，而且你不断地看到他变得更好。”
比克斯塔夫说，在维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)（血栓）和达龙·福克斯(De’Aaron Fox)（手部手术）赛季报销后，瓦塞尔承担了更多的责任，表现得更加出色。
“他打得像一名主控后卫，一个努力带领球队前进的人，而且他做得非常成功，”比克斯塔夫说。
但周二晚上并非如此。
瓦塞尔得到26分，三分球12投6中，新秀斯蒂芬·卡斯尔(Stephon Castle)贡献19分，但他们没有得到队友的太多帮助，马刺队以122-96输给了冉冉升起的活塞队。
“这很艰难，”瓦塞尔说。
马刺队（31胜40负）在进入这场比赛之前，在过去的七场比赛中赢了五场，包括一波三连胜。如果获胜，他们将追平11月份创造的赛季最佳连胜纪录。
如果马刺队想要有机会在周四晚上反弹，对抗东部联盟领先的骑士队（58胜14负），瓦塞尔必须得到更多的帮助。
克利夫兰主场战绩为30胜5负，场均得122.3分，排名联盟第二。马刺队客场战绩为11胜23负，场均失116.2分，排名联盟第23位。
“我们必须观看录像并从中吸取教训，因为克利夫兰也是一个难缠的对手，”瓦塞尔说。
底特律的比赛是本赛季瓦塞尔第22次得分超过20分。他将连续得分上双的场次增加到14场，其中包括连续三场得分超过20分。
瓦塞尔在第一节8投4中，三分球5投3中，得到11分。但不幸的是，马刺队的其余球员合计16投4中，三分球9投2中，这是他们第一节以30-22落后，并最终导致灾难性的第二节的一个重要原因。
“他很有侵略性，”马刺队代理主教练米奇·约翰逊(Mitch Johnson)在谈到瓦塞尔时说，瓦塞尔在3月份的14场比赛中场均接近20分，三分球命中率接近41%。“他是上半场少数几个有意识地努力争抢位置和空间的球员之一。”
马库斯·萨瑟尔替补出场，为底特律贡献了职业生涯新高的27分。活塞队在第一节中段取得领先，并在第三节将领先优势扩大到30分。
活塞队缺少因小腿受伤连续第二场缺席的球星凯德·坎宁安(Cade Cunningham)，另有五名球员得分上双。杰伦·杜伦(Jalen Duren)得到14分和7次助攻，奥萨尔·汤普森(Ausar Thompson)得到14分和6个篮板。
在2月21日奥斯汀以125-110击败马刺队之后，活塞队(41胜32负)完成了与马刺队的两场赛季系列赛的横扫，将圣安东尼奥的投篮命中率限制在36.3%（91投33中），并在内线得分上以56-36领先。
“向他们致敬，”约翰逊说，“他们身体对抗强硬。他们防守。他们让你付出一切努力。他们真的很注重攻防两端的内线。”
“而且我们错失了很多投篮。他们对此负有责任。他们把我们挤出位置。他们打乱了我们的节奏。我们上半场只得了6分内线得分。这是不可持续的。”
马刺队在上半场以60-34落后，第二节以30-12的比分被击败。34分是他们半场的赛季最低得分，12分追平了第二节的赛季最低得分。
马刺队在这一节中19投仅2中，其中包括三分球11投1中，从11分20秒开始到瓦塞尔在半场还剩31.5秒时上篮得分，他们没有再进过一个运动战进球。
“我觉得一切都出了一点问题，”约翰逊在被问到哪里出错时说，“我们错过了一些不错的投篮。我们没有顶住他们最初的抵抗或身体对抗。我们经常被挤到边线。我们无法获得优势。我们没有设置足够好或足够强硬的掩护。”
“我们没有在攻防两端与他们的身体对抗相匹配，”哈里森·巴恩斯(Harrison Barnes)说，他在9次投篮中错失了8次，其中包括7次三分球中错失了6次，最终得到9分。
尽管输了球，瓦塞尔仍然对马刺队在赛季结束时取得好成绩的机会保持乐观。
“我很兴奋，伙计，”瓦塞尔说，“我们必须展示我们是一支优秀的球队。我们有很多优秀的球员，很多年轻的天才。显然，没有文班和达龙，这很艰难。但我很高兴能在（下个赛季）让他们回来。我只是对这一切感到兴奋。我们现在正在做一件非常特别的事情，即使他们两个不在，我们也打出了一些非常棒的篮球。”
San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) brings the ball up court against the Detroit Pistons during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) is blocked from going to the basket by Detroit Pistons guard Marcus Sasser (25) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)
点击查看原文：'Dynamic' Vassell needs help from teammates
‘Dynamic’ Vassell needs help from teammates
CLEVELAND – Devin Vassell’s recent play jumped out to J.B. Bickerstaff when the first-year Detroit Pistons coach studied video of the Spurs.
“He’s dynamic offensively,” Bickerstaff said. “He puts a ton of pressure on you. It seems like every single touch is an aggressive scoring touch. He has the ability to drive the basketball, he can shoot the basketball, he can create in one-on-one situations. It seems he’s ahead of the game on the offensive end, and you continue to see him get better.”
With Victor Wembanyama (blood clot) and De’Aaron Fox (hand surgery) out for the season, Vassell is thriving after taking on more responsibility, Bickerstaff said.
“He’s playing like a lead guard, a guy who’s out there trying to carry his team, and he’s been successful at it,” Bickerstaff said.
Not on Tuesday night, though.
Vassell scored 26 points on a 6-of-12 night from 3-point range, and rookie Stephen Castle contributed 19 points, but they didn’t get much assistance from their teammates as the Spurs fell 122-96 to the up-and-coming Pistons.
“It was a tough one,” Vassell said.
The Spurs (31-40) entered the game having won five of their last seven games, including three in a row. A win would have matched the season-best streak they put together in November.
If the Spurs are to have any kind of chance of rebounding against the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers (58-14) on Thursday night, Vassell is going to have to get a lot more help.
Cleveland is 30-5 at home and ranks second in the league averaging 122.3 points. The Spurs are 11-23 on the road and are 23rd in the league yielding 116.2 points.
“We’ve got to watch video and learn from this one because Cleveland is a tough matchup too,” Vassell said.
The Detroit game marked the 22nd time this season Vassell has finished with 20 or more points. He raised his streak of double-digit scoring games to 14 in a row, including three straight with 20 or more.
Vassell had 11 points on 4 of 8 from the field and 3 of 5 from 3-point range in the first quarter. Unfortunately for the Spurs, the rest of the team was a combined 4 of 16 and 2 of 9, a big reason why they trailed 30-22 going into what turned out to be a disastrous second quarter.
“He was aggressive,” acting Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said of Vassell, who is averaging nearly 20 points and shooting nearly 41% from beyond the arc through 14 games in March. “He was one of the few guys in the first half intentionally trying to fight for spots and space.”
Marcus Sasser had a career-high 27 points off the bench for Detroit, which led by as many as 30 points in the third quarter after gaining the lead for good midway through the first period.
The Pistons, who were without star Cade Cunningham for a second straight game due to a calf injury, had five other players score in double figures. Jalen Duren had 14 points and seven assists, and Ausar Thompson recorded 14 points and six rebounds.
In completing a sweep of their two-game season series with the Spurs after beating them 125-110 on Feb. 21 in Austin, the Pistons (41-32) limited San Antonio to 36.3% shooting from the field (33 of 91) and finished with a 56-36 edge in points in the paint.
“Give them a lot of credit,” Johnson said. "They’re physical. They guard. They make you work for everything. They are really committed to the paint on both sides of the floor.
“And we missed a lot of shots. They had something to do with that. They were pushing us off spots. They were disrupting our timing. We had six points in the paint in the first half. That’s not sustainable.”
The Spurs trailed 60-34 at halftime after getting outscored 30-12 in the second period. The 34 points was a season low for a half and the 12 points matched a season low for the second quarter.
The Spurs hit just 2 of 19 from the field, including 1 of 11 from beyond the arc, in the quarter and didn’t score a field goal from the 11:20 mark until Vassell scored on a driving layup with 31.5 seconds left in the half.
“I felt like just a little bit of everything,” Johnson said when asked what went wrong. “We missed some decent shots. We didn’t play through the initial resistance or physicality they showed. We got pushed to the sidelines a lot. We weren’t able to gain advantages. We didn’t set good enough or physical enough screens.”
“We didn’t match their physicality on both ends of the floor,” said Harrison Barnes, who missed 8 of 9 shots from the field, including 6 of 7 from deep, on his way to nine points.
Despite the loss, Vassell remained optimistic about the Spurs’ chances to end the season strong.
“I’m excited, man,” Vassell said. “We got to showcase that we’re a good team. We got a lot of good players, a lot of young talent. Obviously, without Vic and De’Aaron, it’s tough. But I’m excited to get them guys back (next season). I’m just excited for this whole thing. We got a really special thing going on right now, and even with them two out, we’ve been playing some really good basketball.”
By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer, via San Antonio Express-News