By Jeje Gomez, Marilyn Dubinski, Mark Barrington | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-06-24 12:21:07
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。
雷霆队是联盟最佳球队，并已为王朝奠定基础，但哈利伯顿的伤病证明了NBA没有什么是板上钉钉的。
雷霆队是NBA总冠军。他们毋庸置疑是本赛季的最佳球队吗？
玛丽莲·杜宾斯基 (Marilyn Dubinski) ：考虑到他们在竞争激烈的西部决赛乃至整个联盟中，常规赛战绩都遥遥领先，很难反过来去辩驳什么。事实是，尽管上赛季他们是头号种子，但他们存在明显的弱点，最终导致了他们的失败。他们通过休赛期引进了 亚历克斯·卡鲁索 (Alex Caruso) 和 以赛亚·哈尔滕施泰因 (Isaiah Hartenstein) ，解决了这些弱点，现在他们是总冠军了。此外，我想和大多数马刺队球迷一样，当年他们不得不忍受各种“星号”论调，我可不想用“但是……”来贬低任何成就。（在这种情况下，人们会抱怨他们的对手受伤了。）
马克·巴灵顿 (Mark Barrington) ：他们是最好的，但总决赛以及他们与掘金队的系列赛的竞争激烈程度，可能会稍微模糊这一不争的事实。 泰瑞斯·哈利伯顿 (Tyrese Haliburton) 的不幸受伤，让我们永远无法知道步行者队在全员健康的情况下是否能爆冷取胜。伤病是比赛的一部分，但你总是不希望看到它毁掉此前几乎完美的系列赛。
赫苏斯·戈麦斯 (Jesus Gomez) ：他们是最好的。他们的常规赛战绩表明，他们有深度来应对伤病，而且他们在控制卡鲁索上场时间的情况下，仍然赢得了超过60场比赛。他们确实得到了一些好运，但他们击败掘金队和步行者队并非仅仅因为对手的健康问题。尽管他们曾陷入险境，表现也未如人们预期般具有统治力，这影响了人们对他们夺冠历程的看法，但他们依然是最好的。冠军头衔绝无“星号”。
如果泰瑞斯·哈利伯顿能够出战，步行者队就会赢得抢七大战。是真是假？
杜宾斯基 ：这当然有可能，尽管我们无法确定。步行者队令人钦佩地在半场结束时保持领先，从未让雷霆队真正将他们甩开，但无论哈利伯顿是否在场，在NBA总决赛中赢得抢七大战客场比赛都是一项艰巨的任务。如果说本赛季有哪支球队能凭借意志和篮球之神的眷顾做到这一点，那就是步行者队，但他们最终还是魔力耗尽了。
巴灵顿 ：未知。雷霆队从第三节末到第四节中段打出的一波流，彻底压制了步行者队，看起来势不可挡，但如果泰瑞斯·哈利伯顿 (Tyrese Haliburton) 身体健康，他们也许能挺过去。我真的很想看到一场比赛，哈利伯顿在最后一攻中持球，有机会赢下或扳平比分。即使他投丢了，我也不会不高兴，因为那一刻，无论结果如何，都将是伟大的。但事情并非总能如你所愿。替补球员表现英勇，但 T.J. 麦康奈尔 (T.J. McConnell) 尽管下半场表现出色，却无法像哈利伯顿那样提升全队的水平，关键失误最终葬送了阵容不整的步行者队。这是一个伟大的系列赛，但我会永远好奇它本可以是什么样子。
戈麦斯 ：这是一个多么有趣的假设。哈利伯顿表现出色。第三节开局不稳，部分原因在于那些如果这位明星后卫在场就不会持球的球员。哈利伯顿的伤病限制了他的发挥，即使在跟腱撕裂之前也是如此，但他赋予了球队独特的身份，尽管其他人试图挺身而出，他们也无法取代他所带来的贡献。我仍然认为雷霆队会赢，但这会是一场截然不同、可能更具观赏性的比赛。
你认为下赛季我们能看到他们再度交手吗？雷霆队能成为自2018年以来首支卫冕的球队吗？
杜宾斯基 ：如果哈利伯顿的跟腱确实撕裂，并且他将缺席一年，那么下赛季就不会有再度交手了。东部充满了变数（如果尼克斯队解雇 汤姆·锡伯杜 (Tom Thibodeau) 不是那么愚蠢的话，我会看好他们）。第二部分当然有可能，这支雷霆队已经将自己定位为未来多年的顶级强队，前提是他们的球星们能像当年的马刺队三巨头一样无私。不过，和所有其他球队一样，他们也只是一次伤病就可能毁掉整个赛季，而且你永远不知道狂野西部会发生什么。
巴灵顿 ：我认为步行者队经历了一段奇迹般的旅程，除非哈利伯顿的恢复速度超出预期，并且他们再添至少一名球星，否则我不认为他们明年还能重现那样的表现。他们还需要想办法留下今夏将成为自由球员的 迈尔斯·特纳 (Myles Turner) 。他们可以围绕 帕斯卡尔·西亚卡姆 (Pascal Siakam) 组建一支不错的球队，以 杰林·内姆哈德 (Jaylin Nembhard) 和 亚伦·内史密斯 (Aaron Nesmith) 作为帮手，但这还不足以成为争冠球队。
雷霆队拥有联盟顶级的球员天赋和深厚的板凳深度。他们与哈尔滕施泰因的合同还有两年，他和 切特·霍姆格伦 (Chet Holmgren) 组成双塔阵容，至少在这段时间内将难以对付。他们此前的弱点是经验，而赢得总冠军后，这已不再是问题。他们未来最大的问题将是球星的健康状况，以及球员新秀合同到期后如何避免薪资空间爆炸。其他所有强队也面临着同样的问题，因此在可预见的未来（NBA的2-4年），要想在西部超越他们，需要卓越的阵容管理和一点点运气。
戈麦斯 ：哈利伯顿的伤病让再度交手的梦想化为泡影。东部明年应该会群雄逐鹿，但没有泰瑞斯·哈利伯顿的步行者队，很难走到最后。因为至少目前看来，东部实力较弱，所以雷霆队和卫冕之间最主要的障碍，似乎将是明年西部将成为的“炼狱”。即使同区对手有所提升，雷霆队仍应该是晋级总决赛的热门球队，而且如果他们保持健康，我能看到他们卫冕。
点击查看原文：The Finals provided a reminder that even the best teams need luck
The Finals provided a reminder that even the best teams need luck
The Thunder were the best team in the league and are set up for a dynastic run, but the Haliburton injury proves that nothing is promised in the NBA.
The Thunder are NBA Champions. Were they undeniably the best team this season?
Marilyn Dubinski: It’s pretty hard to look at the fact that they had the best regular season record by a landslide in a tough Western Conference Finals and league overall, and then turn around and try to spin it another way. The fact is despite earning the top seed last season, they had obvious weaknesses that proved to be their demise. They addressed those weaknesses in the offseason with the additions of Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein, and now they’re champions. Besides, I think like most Spurs fans who had to endure all the “asterisk” talk back in the day, I’m not in the business of diminishing accomplishments with “yeah but…”. (In this case, people will moan about their opponents being injured.)
Mark Barrington: They were the best, but the competitive nature of the finals and their series against the Nuggets may cloud the undeniable nature of it a bit. With Haliburton’s unfortunate injury, we’ll never know if the Pacers could have pulled off the upset at full strength. Injuries are part of the game, but you hate to see it ruin what had been an almost perfect series to that point.
Jesus Gomez: They were the best. Their regular season record showed they had the depth to deal with injuries, and they managed to get over 60 wins while managing the minutes they were giving to Caruso. They did catch some breaks, but they didn’t only get past the Nuggets and beat the Pacers because of health issues. The fact that they had scares and didn’t look as dominant as people expected hurts the perception of their run, but they were the best. No asterisks on titles, ever.
The Pacers would have won Game 7 had Tyrese Haliburton been available. True or false?
Dubinski: It’s certainly possible, although there’s no way of knowing for sure. The Pacers admirably had the lead through halftime and never let the Thunder truly put them away, but regardless of having Haliburton or not, winning Game 7 on the road in the NBA Finals is a Herculean task. If any team had the will and power of the basketball gods behind them to make it happen this season, it was the Pacers, but they just finally ran out of magic.
Barrington: Unknown. The huge run by the Thunder where they shut down the Pacers from the last part of the third to halfway through the fourth seemed pretty unstoppable, but they might have been able to survive it with a healthy Tyrese. I really wanted to see a game where Haliburton had the ball in his hands with a chance to win or tie at the final possession. I wouldn’t have even been unhappy if he missed the shot, because that moment would have been great, however it came out. But not everything always plays out the way you would like. The backup players made a valiant effort, but McConnell, while he had an excellent second half, couldn’t elevate the rest of the team like Haliburton does, and critical turnovers doomed the short-handed Pacers. It was a great series, but I’ll always wonder how it could have been.
Gomez: It’s such an interesting hypothetical. Haliburton was playing great. The shaky start to the third was partially caused by guys who wouldn’t have handled the ball if the star guard had been on the court. Hali was limited by his injury even before the Achilles tear, but he gave them an identity, and while others tried to step up, they couldn’t replace what he brought to the table. I still think the Thunder would have won, but it would have been a very different, likely much more entertaining game.
Do you think we could get a rematch next season? And can the Thunder be the first to repeat since 2018?
Dubinski: There won’t be a rematch next season if Haliburton’s Achilles is truly torn and he’s out for a year. The East is wide open for the taking (I’d favor the Knicks if they weren’t so idiotic with the firing of Thibs). The second part is certainly possible as this Thunder team has positioned itself to be a juggernaut for years to come, assuming their stars are as unselfish as the Spurs’ Big Three were back in the day. Still, like everyone else, they’re just one injury away from a ruined season, and you never know what will happen in the Wild Wild West.
Barrington: I think the Pacers were on a magical run, and I don’t see that run happening again next year unless Haliburton recovers faster than expected and they add at least one more star. They will also need to find a way to retain Myles Turner, who is a free agent this offseason. They can have a decent team by building around Pascal Siakam, with Nembhard and Nesmith as supporting cast, but that’s not good enough to be a contender.
The Thunder have the best talent in the league and depth for days. They have Hartenstein under contract for two more years, and the double big lineup of him and Holmgren is going to be tough to contend with for at least that long. Their weakness was experience, and with winning a title, that’s no longer a problem. Their biggest issues going forward will be the health of their stars and not busting their salary cap as players age out of rookie contracts. Every other good team contends with those same problems, so it’s just going to take some excellent roster management and a little luck to get past them in the West for the foreseeable future, which is 2-4 years in the NBA.
Gomez: The dream of a rematch evaporated with Haliburton’s injury. The East should be wide open next year, but the Pacers without Tyrese would be a long shot to be the last team standing. Because the East, at least right now, looks weak, the main obstacle between the Thunder and a repeat seems to be the gauntlet that should be the West next year. Even with improved opponents in their conference, OKC should be the favorite to advance to the Finals, and I can see them repeating if they stay healthy.
By Jeje Gomez, Marilyn Dubinski, Mark Barrington, via Pounding The Rock