By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-12-06 12:38:52
2025年12月5日，周五，于克利夫兰举行的一场NBA篮球比赛中，克利夫兰骑士队后卫多诺万·米切尔（45号）在上半场持球突破圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋杰里米·索汉（10号）的防守。(美联社图片/Sue Ogrocki)
新奥尔良电 – 周五深夜，在火箭球馆的客队更衣室内，卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet) 坐在自己的衣柜前，刷着手机，身上穿着他整晚都未曾换下的运动服。
这位身高7英尺1英寸的中锋因左脚踝扭伤，缺席了马刺以117-130不敌克利夫兰的比赛。
“伤得不重，”科内特谈及自己的伤势时说，“我们得看情况发展，但我觉得不会让我缺席太久。”
这是一个乐观的预判，科内特的教练也持有同样的看法。
“我认为这伤病不会持续太久，”米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 说。
在周五那场毫无防守可言的失利之后，马刺只能寄望于科内特尽快康复。
本赛季，马刺在缺少明星中锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 的情况下打过比赛，也在缺少他的首席替补科内特的情况下打过比赛。
但在抵达克利夫兰之前，他们还从未在两名7英尺大个子同时缺阵的情况下打过比赛。
结果显而易见，并不理想。
骑士队在第三节打出44-19的攻击波，将半场8分的落后劣势转变为一场酣畅淋漓的大胜。
由于马刺阵中最好的两名护筐者都无法出战形成威慑，克利夫兰的球员们仿佛看到了直通禁区的绿灯，在内线得分上以80-44碾压对手。
“如果任由对手轻松上篮而我们毫无抵抗，那我们是赢不了球的，”后卫德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 说，他在上半场就砍下了28分中的25分。“我们不能坐视不管，任由雪球越滚越大。”
本场比赛之前，克利夫兰保持着一项NBA历史纪录——连续110场比赛至少投进10记三分球。
这一纪录在周五宣告终结，骑士队全场三分球26投仅8中。
但这并非因为马刺打出了多么统治级的外线防守。恰恰相反，这是因为骑士队发现，马刺提供的唾手可得的上篮机会实在太过诱人。
克利夫兰的侵略性也为他们赢得了22次罚球机会，这对马刺的处境更是雪上加霜。
“这场比赛基本上就是在内线和罚球线之间决出的，”临危受命出任首发中锋、身高6英尺8英寸的老将俾斯麦·比永博 (Bismack Biyombo) 说。“我们的防守比这要好得多。我们必须回去看录像，然后做得更好。”
文班亚马和科内特的双双缺阵，让约翰逊在周五排布中锋轮换时几乎没有好的选择。
“我们只能随机应变了，”约翰逊在赛前说道。
为了顶替此前代替受伤的文班亚马首发的受伤的科内特，约翰逊派上了33岁的比永博，这仅仅是他本赛季的第8次出场，也是首次首发。
比永博登场了10分半钟，尽其所能地稳住阵脚。
“我们的工作就是时刻做好准备，无论教练何时需要我们都能挺身而出，”比永博说，“时刻准备着，机会来临时你才无需再做准备。”
比赛开始时，这位马刺的新任首发中锋表现得颇有希望，他在球队的第一次进攻中就接到了瓦塞尔的空接传球。
但从那以后，马刺的夜晚便急转直下。到了下半场，骑士队几乎是想在内线得分就得分。
全明星后卫多诺万·米切尔 (Donovan Mitchell) 仅凭一记三分球就得到了28分。尽管因病错过了克利夫兰的晨间投篮训练，埃文·莫布里 (Evan Mobley) 依然在内线打出统治级表现，贡献了17分和10个篮板的两双数据。
二年级后卫杰伦·泰森 (Jaylen Tyson) 砍下24分，其中大部分来自于无人阻挡的篮下冲击。
“这是多种因素共同作用的结果——身体对抗和防守强度，在回合开始时就没有达到应有的水准，”米奇·约翰逊说。“很多小问题，最终累积成了大问题。”
将比永博提上首发，有助于保持马刺替补轮换阵容的完整性，由杰里米·索汉扮演小球中锋的角色。
身高6英尺11英寸的凯利·奥利尼克 (Kelly Olynyk) 也打了5分钟，而像凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 和哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 这样身材更矮的侧翼球员也不得不花时间去防守克利夫兰的大个子们。
米奇·约翰逊承认，缺少大个子球员让马刺在内线吃了大亏，但他表示，无论谁能上场，球队都必须做得更好。
“那（缺少身高）是原因之一，”约翰逊说。“但我仍然认为，我们不应该让对手（在内线）得到80分那个数字。”
马刺正处于一段舟车劳顿的赛程之中，自11月20日以来，他们只打了一场主场比赛。约翰逊推测，“精神疲劳”可能在马刺于克利夫兰出现的大量防守崩盘中扮演了角色。
对于这一说法，约翰逊的球员们并不否认。
“这里是NBA，”比永博说，“每个人都会经历这些。我想现在轮到我们来经历了。我们必须不断想办法恢复过来。”
马刺下一次恢复状态的机会将在周一的新奥尔良到来。他们在两场比赛之间多了一天的休息时间，这次喘息来得正是时候。
精神上的休整对马刺应有裨益，而身体的休息也绝无坏处。或许马刺能迎来一些球员的回归——尤其是那些大个子，越高大越好。
“他们在下半场以更好的方式投入比赛，”比永博说，“无论我们是否存在精神疲劳，我们都必须做出更好的回应。我相信我们下一场比赛会做得更好。”
San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson, center, loses control of the ball between Cleveland Cavaliers forward Luke Travers, left, and forward Nae’Qwan Tomlin, right, in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley (4) dunks in front of San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie (30) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley (4) knocks the ball away from San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) shoots next to Cleveland Cavaliers guard Craig Porter Jr. (9) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Cavaliers forward Dean Wade (32) loses the ball after being fouled by San Antonio Spurs forward David Jones Garcia (25) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Lonzo Ball, left, grabs a rebound in front of San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (3) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) shoots between Cleveland Cavaliers center Thomas Bryant, left, and guard Craig Porter Jr., right, in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) goes to the basket between Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley, left, and guard Craig Porter Jr., right, in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley, right, shoots over San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie, left, in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley (4) dunks over San Antonio Spurs center Bismack Biyombo (18) in the fist half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) shoots over San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan, left, in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
Cleveland Cavaliers center Evan Mobley (4) knocks the ball away from San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
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：In Cleveland Spurs prove why size still matters in the NBA
In Cleveland Spurs prove why size still matters in the NBA
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) drives to the basket past San Antonio Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan (10) in the first half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
NEW ORLEANS – Luke Kornet sat at his stall in the visitor’s locker room at Rocket Arena late Friday, thumbing through his phone and wearing the same sweatsuit he’d had on all night.
The 7-foot-1 center had been inactive for the Spurs’ 130-117 loss against Cleveland, sidelined by a sprained left ankle.
“It’s not bad,” Kornet said of his injury. “We’ll see how it goes, but I don’t think it will keep me out long.”
It was an optimistic prognosis shared by Kornet’s coach.
“I don’t think it’s something that will be too lingering,” Mitch Johnson said.
After Friday’s defense-less defeat against the Cavaliers, the Spurs will light a candle for a quick recovery for Kornet.
The Spurs have played games this season without star center Victor Wembanyama. They have played games without Kornet, his top backup.
Before arriving in Cleveland, they had not played a game with both of their 7-footers unavailable.
It did not go well.
The Cavs used a 44-19 third quarter to transform an eight-point halftime deficit into a blowout win.
Without either of the Spurs’ best rim protectors to serve as deterrent, Cleveland players saw a green light to the paint, winning the scoring battle there 80-44.
“We’re not going to win games with teams getting layups and we’re giving no resistance,” said guard Devin Vassell, who scored 25 of his 28 points in the first half. “We can’t sit here and let it snowball and snowball and snowball.”
Coming into the night, Cleveland owned an NBA-record streak of 110 consecutive games with at least 10 3-pointers.
That ended Friday, when the Cavaliers made 8 of 26 from beyond the arc.
That wasn’t because the Spurs played some kind of dominant perimeter defense. Quite the opposite, it was because the Cavaliers found the buffet of layups the Spurs were offering to be far too tempting.
Cleveland’s aggressiveness also led to 22 free throws, which did not aid the Spurs’ cause.
“The game was basically between the paint and the free-throw line,” said Bismack Biyombo, the 6-foot-8 veteran who served as the replacement starting center. “Defensively we’re better than that. We’ve got to go back and watch film and be better.”
The absences of both Wembanyama and Kornet rendered Johnson few good options when filling out his center rotation Friday.
“We’ll be shooting from the hip,” Johnson said before tipoff.
To replace the injured Kornet, who had been starting in place of the injured Wembanyama, Johnson went with the 33-year-old Biyombo, who was making only his eighth appearance of the season and the first start.
Biymobo logged 10 ½ minutes of playing time, doing his best to hold down the fort.
“Our job is to stay ready and be available for whenever coach needs us,” Biyombo said. “Stay ready so you don’t have to get ready.”
The game began promisingly enough for the Spurs’ new replacement center, as Biyombo caught an alley-oop lob from Vassell on the team’s first possession.
The Spurs’ night went steadily downhill from there. In the second half, the Cavaliers found a paint bucket anytime they wanted it.
All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell needed only one 3-pointer to get to 28 points. Despite missing Cleveland’s morning shootaround with an illness, Evan Mobley dominated inside with a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double.
Second-year guard Jaylen Tyson accounted for 24 points, much of it on unimpeded runs to the rim.
“It was a combination of things – physicality and resistance, at the start of possessions not where they needed to be,” Mitch Johnson said. “A lot of little things, which ended up being a lot.”
Biyombo’s insertion into the starting lineup helped keep the Spurs’ bench rotations intact, with Jeremy Sochan filling the role of small-ball center.
The 6-foot-11 Kelly Olynyk added five minutes of work, and smaller wings like Keldon Johnson and Harrison Barnes also spent time defending Cleveland’s big men.
Mitch Johnson acknowledged the lack of big bodies hurt the Spurs in the paint, but said the team still must be better no matter who is available.
“That’s part of it,” Johnson said. “I still think that’s not the number (80) we should be at.”
The Spurs are in the throes of a travel-heavy schedule that has seen one home game since Nov. 20. Johnson surmised “mental fatigue” might have played a role in the Spurs’ copious defensive busts in Cleveland.
It is a charge Johnson’s players do not deny.
“It’s the NBA,” Biymobo said. “Everybody goes through it. I think it’s our turn to go through it now. We’ve got to keep figuring out how to recover.”
The Spurs’ next chance at recovery comes Monday in New Orleans. They have an extra day off between games, a respite that comes at a good time.
The mental recharge should do the Spurs some good. The rest can’t hurt. Perhaps the Spurs can begin to get some bodies back, the bigger the better.
“They came out with a better approach in the second half,” Biyombo said. “Whether we had mental fatigue or not, we have to respond better. I think we’ll do better next game.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News