By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-11-19 14:17:35
圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫德阿隆·福克斯 (4) 在2025年11月18日周二于圣安东尼奥举行的一场NBA篮球比赛下半场中，突破孟菲斯灰熊队后卫肯塔维奥斯·考德威尔-波普 (3) 的防守。(美联社照片/Darren Abate)
刚过中线几步，一丝微笑开始在德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 的脸上浮现。
就在周二马刺战胜孟菲斯灰熊的比赛进入尾声时，一次飞身扑救的凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 刚刚为他抢下一个地板球，让福克斯得以在球场另一端获得直冲篮筐的机会。
在接下来的45英尺冲刺中，无数种潜在的扣篮方式在这位身高6英尺3英寸的福克斯脑海中飞速闪过。他最终选择了一记风车暴扣，就算没有别的原因，也只是为了向自己证明一些事情。
“我这弹跳还没丢，”这位27岁的后卫说道。
福克斯本赛季的首次扣篮，为在霜岸中心球馆上演的一场狂野终局画上了圆满的句号，马刺最终以111-101战胜了顽强的孟菲斯灰熊队。
终场前一波11-0的攻击波，让马刺从一场片刻之前似乎还注定要失利的比赛中，惊险地抢回了胜利。
这也揭示了马刺在未来几天乃至几周内，在多名核心球员因伤作壁上观的情况下，必须采取的比赛方式。
缺少维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 和斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 迟早会给马刺带来麻烦。
而阵容深度和防守将在很大程度上帮助他们渡过即将到来的难关。
“没人想到我们会缺席这么多球员，甚至是我们队内前三号得分手中的两位，”福克斯说道。“我们有很多球员都曾进出过轮换阵容。你必须继续努力赢球。这才是强队该做的事。”
周四对阵亚特兰大老鹰，马刺将力争以一波三连胜结束他们连续五个主场的赛程。
周二战胜缺少了全明星控卫贾·莫兰特 (Ja Morant) 但拼劲十足的灰熊队，为他们提供了一份可行的作战蓝图。
福克斯是场上的领军人物，他在下半场砍下26分中的22分，连续第三场比赛得分超过20分。
在上半场7投仅1中后，马刺教练组敦促他提升自己的侵略性。福克斯在第三节独得18分作为回应。
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“他得分具有爆发力，能在短时间内连续取分，”教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 说道。“当他做到这一点时，你能明显感觉到。他能提升场上其他每个人的表现，因为他吸引了大量的防守注意力。”
哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 贡献了23分，包括在最后2分半钟内连续命中三球，点燃了马刺那波挽救比赛的关键攻势。
凯尔登·约翰逊从替补席上贡献了18分，并上演了全场最令人难忘的积极拼抢。
杰里米·索汉 (Jeremy Sochan) 则对孟菲斯队仅存的明星球员小贾伦·杰克逊 (Jaren Jackson Jr.) 进行了强硬的防守。凯利·奥利尼克 (Kelly Olynyk) 作为替补中锋也贡献了10分。
卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet) 在第二次顶替文班亚马首发的比赛中虽然一分未得，但在关键时刻成功防住了灰熊的内线巨塔扎克·伊迪 (Zach Edey)，完成了两次关键防守。
“无论谁在场上，我们都希望打出自己的篮球风格，并努力保持我们一贯的球队特性，”教练米奇·约翰逊说。“看到这么多人协力赢下比赛，感觉真的很棒。”
比赛还剩2分15秒时，缺兵少将的灰熊队在一场鏖战中以101-100领先同样人员不整的马刺队。
此时，巴恩斯站了出来，他以一种出人意料的方式点燃了马刺队终结比赛的攻击波——面对身高7英尺4英寸的伊迪从弱侧协防过来，他命中了一记跑动中的天勾。
“有时候，你就得拿出一些压箱底的绝活，”巴恩斯说。
在这次模仿卡里姆·阿卜杜尔-贾巴尔 (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) 的招牌动作之后，巴恩斯又迎着前NBA年度最佳防守球员杰克逊命中了一记油漆区跳投。接着，在马刺的下一次进攻中，他果断出手命中一记三分。
“有时候你就得依靠队里的老将，”福克斯在谈到这位马刺阵中最年长的球员时说道。“他带领我们走出了困境。”
当巴恩斯的个人得分表演结束时，马刺在比赛还剩52.6秒时已经领先6分，距离胜利只差几次成功的防守。
而在此之前的比赛大部分时间里，马刺都难以完成成功的防守。
即便他们迫使孟菲斯投篮不中，保护好防守篮板也成了一项艰巨的任务。灰熊队全场抢下了21个进攻篮板，并借此得到了22分的二次进攻得分。
对于米奇·约翰逊来说，当晚最令人欣慰的是，马刺的防守让孟菲斯在第四节仅得到14分——并且在最后3分13秒内让他们一分未得。
“感觉这完全是靠防守拼出来的，”约翰逊说。“为了抢到地板球、篮板而奋力拼搏，以及纪律严明的压迫性防守。”
这一点在福克斯那记为比赛盖棺定论的霸气扣篮发生前的几秒钟里，得到了充分展现。
当时比赛还剩不到30秒，马刺已经领先8分，形势一片大好。
福克斯在弧顶将孟菲斯新秀塞德里克·考沃德 (Cedric Coward) 的球捅掉，这位马刺后卫一度对这次抢断感到有些后悔。
“我觉得（在这种情况下）很多糟糕的事情都可能发生，”福克斯说。“你可能会把球捅到他们队员手里，然后他们或许会投进一个三分，比赛的局面就完全不同了。”
事实也的确如此，那个地板球正朝着左侧翼的孟菲斯球员杰伦·威尔斯 (Jaylen Wells) 滚去。凯尔登·约翰逊是离球最近的马刺防守球员。
“当我看到是 Keldon 时，我就想‘哦，凯尔登能搞定这个’，”福克斯说。
“他整个赛季都是我们队的活力源泉，”巴恩斯说道。
约翰逊奋不顾身地飞扑向地板去争抢这个失球，抢在威尔斯之前触到球，并将其传给了已经起速快下的福克斯。
从那一刻起，福克斯唯一要做的，就是琢磨着该如何让自己的赛季首扣足够精彩。
答案是：一记风车暴扣。
“这算是个不错的开端，”一小时后，福克斯的脸上依然挂着笑容说道。
San Antonio Spurs forward Harrison Barnes (40) dunks against Memphis Grizzlies center Santi Aldama during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey, right, shoots against San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey defends San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) drives past Sacramento Kings’ guard DeMar DeRozan (10) during the first half of an NBA game in San Antonio, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. San Antonio beat Sacramento 123-110.
San Antonio Spurs center Luke Kornet (7) slaps hands with guard De’Aaron Fox (4) during the first half of an NBA game with the Sacramento Kings in San Antonio, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. San Antonio beat Sacramento 123-110.
San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) drives on Sacramento Kings’ guard Keon Ellis (23) during the first half of an NBA game in San Antonio, Sunday, Nov. 16, 2025. Fox led the Spurs with 28 points to help San Antonio beat Sacramento 123-110.
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。
点击查看原文：Spurs' defense and depth key for winning without Victor Wembanyama
Spurs’ defense and depth key for winning without Victor Wembanyama
San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) drives against Memphis Grizzlies guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (3) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Tuesday, Nov. 18, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
The smile began to creep across De’Aaron Fox’s face a few steps past midcourt.
A diving Keldon Johnson had just delivered him a loose ball in the waning moments of the Spurs’ victory over Memphis on Tuesday, and Fox had free run to the basket at the other end of the floor.
For the next 45 feet, a Rolodex of potential dunks whirred through the 6-foot-3 Fox’s mind. He decided on a windmill slam, if for no other reason than to prove something to himself.
“I still got a little bounce,” the 27-year-old guard said.
Fox’s first dunk of the season provided the exclamation mark on a wild finish at the Frost Bank Center that produced a 111-101 triumph over the plucky Memphis Grizzlies.
A game-closing 11-0 run allowed the Spurs to pull a victory out of a night that only moments earlier seemed headed toward defeat.
It also shed light on how the Spurs must play if they are going to survive the coming days and weeks with some of their best players in street clothes.
No Victor Wembanyama and no Stephon Castle will be problematic for the Spurs at some point.
Depth and defense will take them a long way toward weathering the coming storm.
“No one thought we’d be missing this many guys or two of our top three scorers,” Fox said. “We’ve had a lot of guys that have been in and out of the lineup. You’ve got to continue to get wins. That’s what good teams do.”
Thursday against Atlanta, the Spurs will aim to cap a five-game homestand with a three-game winning streak.
Tuesday’s win, against a scrappy Grizzlies squad missing All-Star point guard Ja Morant, gave them the outline of a blueprint.
Fox was the ringleader, scoring 22 of his 26 points in the second half for his third consecutive 20-point outing.
After Fox was 1 for 7 in the first half, the Spurs coaching staff urged him to ratchet up his aggressiveness. Fox obliged with 18 points in the third quarter.
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“He can score in bunches and bursts,” coach Mitch Johnson said. “You can feel when he does that. It elevates everyone else because he draws so much attention.”
Harrison Barnes added 23 points, including three baskets in a row to spark the Spurs’ game-saving spurt in the final 2½ minutes.
Keldon Johnson contributed 18 points and the game’s most memorable hustle play off the bench.
Jeremy Sochan provided some tough defense against Memphis’ remaining star, Jaren Jackson Jr. Kelly Olynyk chipped in 10 points as a backup center.
Luke Kornet went scoreless in his second start in place of Wembanyama but had a pair of key stops against Grizzlies behemoth Zach Edey down the stretch.
“We want to play our brand of basketball and try to maintain our same identity no matter who is in,” coach Mitch Johnson said. “It was really good to see so many people help win.”
With 2:15 to play, the undermanned Grizzlies were beating the undermanned Spurs 101-100 in a rock fight.
Enter Barnes, who set the fuse on the Spurs’ game-closing run in unlikely fashion — with a running skyhook that came with the 7-4 Edey closing from the weak side.
“Every once in a while, you’ve got to throw out some things,” Barnes said.
Barnes followed his Kareem Abdul-Jabbar impression with a paint jumper over Jackson, a former NBA Defensive Player of the Year. Then, he buried a quick-trigger 3-pointer on the Spurs’ next possession.
“There are times you just ride your vet,” Fox said of the Spurs’ oldest player. “He pulled us through.”
By the time Barnes’ personal points parade was finished, the Spurs were ahead by six with 52.6 seconds remaining, a few stops away from winning.
For swaths of the game to that point, stops had been difficult to come by for the Spurs.
Even when they forced Memphis into a missed shot, securing the defensive rebound proved a bridge too far. The Grizzlies grabbed 21 offensive rebounds, good for 22 second-chance points.
That the Spurs’ defense held Memphis to 14 points in the fourth quarter — and without a point at all over the final 3:13 — was the sweetest part of the night for Mitch Johnson.
“It felt like it was a lot of defense,” Johnson said. “The fight to just come up with the loose balls, the rebounds, the disciplined pressure.”
That much was on display in the seconds leading to Fox’s emphatic, game-punctuating dunk.
The Spurs were already in good shape, ahead by eight with less than 30 seconds to play.
Fox poked the ball away from Memphis rookie Cedric Coward at the top of the key, a swipe the Spurs guard momentarily regretted.
“I feel like a lot of bad things can happen (in that situation),” Fox said. “You knock it to someone on their team and they might hit a 3 and it’s an entirely different game.”
Indeed, the loose ball was rolling directly toward Memphis’ Jaylen Wells on the left wing. Keldon Johnson was the nearest Spurs defender.
“Once I saw who it was, I was like, ‘Oh, Keldon’s got this,’” Fox said.
“He’s been our energy guy all season long,” Barnes said.
Johnson flung himself headlong to the court in pursuit of the turnover, beating Wells to the ball and shuffling it to an already fast-breaking Fox.
From there, Fox’s only job was to figure out how much mustard to put on his first dunk of the season.
A windmill, it was.
“That’s a way to kick start it,” Fox said, still grinning an hour later.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News