By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-12-06 12:32:15
2025年12月5日，在克利夫兰举行的一场NBA篮球比赛下半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫德文·瓦塞尔（24号）在克利夫兰骑士队后卫朗佐·鲍尔（2号）的防守下出手投篮。(美联社照片/苏·奥格罗基)
新奥尔良电 – 马刺队主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 根本无需去骑士队的半场更衣室偷听，就能猜到对方主教练在对球员们说些什么。
在亲眼目睹德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 上半场飙中7记三分狂砍25分后，骑士队主教练肯尼·阿特金森 (Kenny Atkinson) 毫无疑问地在第三节开始前向球员们下达了一条明确指令。
找到那个身穿黑色24号球衣的家伙，然后寸步不离。
“感觉他们肯定在更衣室里强调了要对他贴得更紧。”约翰逊说道。
整个下半场，骑士队就像牛皮糖一样紧紧贴着手感火热的瓦塞尔，这也帮助他们在火箭球馆将半场8分的落后劣势，转变为一场130-117的酣畅大胜。
瓦塞尔上半场的爆发堪称一场视觉盛宴。他三分线外10投7中，追平了由布林·福布斯 (Bryn Forbes) 保持的队史半场三分命中数纪录。
而由查克·珀森 (Chuck Person) 在1997年创下的单场9记三分的队史纪录，也一度变得岌岌可危。
瓦塞尔在周五比赛半场结束前砍下的25分，已经是他本赛季个人第二高的单场得分。
“我只是努力保持侵略性，”瓦塞尔说。“对我来说，很多出手机会在别人看来可能不是好机会。但只要我有一点点空间，那就是一次好的出手。”
骑士队在下半场成功地限制了瓦塞尔在三分线外的发挥。他全场得到28分，但在中场休息后，他的三次远投尝试全部偏出。
“我早就料到了，”瓦塞尔说。“任何球员打出那样的火热手感，对手都不可能让你继续这么投下去。他们对我寸步不离。”
确实如此，毫不夸张地说，如果瓦塞尔在第三节的任何时候想去趟洗手间，可以肯定的是，一名骑士球员也会跟着他冲进去。
当瓦塞尔之后坐下来观看周五比赛的录像时，他说他不会太在意自己手感滚烫的上半场。
他表现沉寂的下半场才是他更感兴趣的部分。
“你必须去适应（这种更强的防守强度），”瓦塞尔谈到对手增加的防守注意力时说。“我会重点回顾下半场的比赛，看看自己在哪些环节本可以找到出手点，获得更多的投篮机会。”
马刺教练在克利夫兰的“主场”情结
约翰逊与克利夫兰这座城市以及骑士队有着特殊的渊源。
1970年，他的父亲约翰·约翰逊 (John Johnson) 成为了骑士队队史上的首位新秀。
那一年，作为一支扩军球队的骑士队在总第七顺位选中了约翰逊，他在此效力了自己NBA生涯的前三个赛季。
2019年，当骑士队追授约翰逊入选其首届荣誉堂时，他的儿子米奇到场代父领奖。
如今以马刺队主教练的身份重返克利夫兰，对小约翰逊而言意义非凡。
“这再次提醒我，篮球世界是多么像一个大家庭，彼此之间是多么紧密相连，而这次就是最好的证明之一。”约翰逊说。“能够在这个圈子里与新朋友建立联系，感觉非常酷。正是这段历史让我有了这样的机会。”
约翰逊并非马刺队随队人员中唯一一位父亲在克利夫兰声名显赫的成员。
马刺队新秀迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 的父亲罗恩·哈珀 (Ron Harper)，在1986年以总第八顺位被骑士队选中，并为球队效力了三个半赛季。
在周五的比赛期间，当罗恩·哈珀的影像出现在Rocket Mortgage球馆的大屏幕上时，现场响起了雷鸣般的掌声。
骑士球迷依旧对奥利尼克报以嘘声
马刺队中锋凯利·奥利尼克 (Kelly Olynyk) 早在周五比赛上半场替补登场前，就知道嘘声将会如期而至。
近十年来，克利夫兰的球迷们一直用这种嘘声来“欢迎”他。
“每次我来到这里，队里的年轻球员都会问我为什么球迷要嘘我，”奥利尼克说。“我不得不向他们解释这段往事。”
奥利尼克与克利夫兰市之间的这段宿怨要追溯到2015年的季后赛。
当时，奥利尼克效力于波士顿凯尔特人队，在首轮系列赛中对阵骑士。在第四场比赛中，他与克利夫兰前锋凯文·乐福 (Kevin Love) 纠缠在一起，并在拼抢过程中用力拉拽后者的手臂，导致乐福肩膀脱臼。
那次受伤让乐福缺席了骑士队后续杀入NBA总决赛的全部征程。显然，骑士队的球迷们对此既没有原谅，也未曾忘记。
“这都过去10年了，”奥利尼克说。“现在在这里嘘我的人里，有一半都是孩子，他们甚至都不知道为什么要这么做。”
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：How the Cavaliers cooled off Devin Vassell in the second half
How the Cavaliers cooled off Devin Vassell in the second half
San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) shoots over Cleveland Cavaliers guard Lonzo Ball (2) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Friday, Dec. 5, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
NEW ORLEANS – Spurs coach Mitch Johnson didn’t need to be a fly on the wall of the Cleveland Cavaliers’ halftime locker room Friday to know what his counterpart was telling his team.
After watching Devin Vassell explode for seven 3-pointers and 25 points in the first half, Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson no doubt sent players into the third quarter with an obvious directive.
Find No. 24 in a black jersey, and never leave him.
“It felt like they must have talked about staying more connected to him,” Johnson said.
The Cavaliers spent the second half attached to the hot-shooting Vassell like lint, and it helped them transform an eight-point halftime deficit into a runaway 130-117 victory at Rocket Arena.
Vassell’s first-half eruption was a sight to behold. He went 7-for-10 from the 3-point stripe, matching Bryn Forbes’ franchise record for 3-pointers in a half.
Chuck Person’s club mark for 3-pointers in a single game – nine, set in 1997 – appeared in peril.
The 25 points Vassell amassed before halftime Friday already constituted his second-highest scoring game of the season.
“It’s just staying aggressive,” Vassell said. “A lot of shots for me might look like a bad shot for a lot of other people. If I have a little bit of space, it’s a good shot.”
The Cavaliers found a way to keep Vassell off the 3-point line in the second half. He finished with 28 points, and missed all three of his attempts from distance after halftime.
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“I already knew what it was,” Vassell said. “Any player gets hot like that, you’re not going to let them keep shooting. They followed me everywhere I went.”
Indeed, had Vassell needed to use the bathroom at any point in the third quarter, it’s a safe bet a Cavs player would have chased him there.
When Vassell eventually sits down to watch film of Friday’s game, he says he won’t bother much with his sizzling first half.
His quiet second half will be of much more interest to him.
“That’s something you’ve got to adjust to,” Vassell said of the added defensive attention. “That’s one thing I’ll watch is the second half, to see where I could have gotten to my spots and gotten some more shots off.”
Spurs coach at home in Cleveland
Johnson has a special connection to the city of Cleveland and the Cavaliers franchise.
In 1970, his father John Johnson became the first draft pick in Cavs’ history.
The expansion club selected Johnson seventh overall that year, and he spent his first three NBA seasons with the team.
When the Cavaliers posthumously inducted Johnson into their inaugural Hall of Honor in 2019, his son Mitch was there to accept the honor on his father’s behalf.
To return to Cleveland now as the Spurs coach meant much to the younger Johnson.
“There’s a few reminders and this is one of the bigger ones of how much of a fraternity and how much of an intimate world basketball is,” Johnson said. “It’s cool to be able to connect with and meet new people in that world. This is one of those pieces of history that has allowed that for me.”
Johnson was not the only member of the Spurs traveling party with a father famous in Cleveland.
Ron Harper, the father of Spurs rookie Dylan Harper, was selected eighth overall by the Cavaliers in 1986 and played 3 ½ seasons with the club.
He was introduced on the Rocket Mortgage big screen during Friday’s game to raucous applause.
Cavs fans still jeer Olynyk
Spurs center Kelly Olynyk knew the boos would be coming before he even checked into Friday’s game in the first half.
Cleveland fans have been greeting him with jeers for nearly a decade now.
“Every time I come here, the younger players on the team ask why they are booing me,” Olynyk said. “I have to tell them.”
The long-running feud between Olynyk and the city of Cleveland dates to the 2015 playoffs.
Olynyk was playing for Boston then in a first-round series against the Cavs. In Game 4, he tangled with Cleveland forward Kevin Love, yanking on his arm so hard in the process it dislocated Love’s shoulder.
Love would miss the remainder of the Cavaliers’ run to the NBA Finals. Cavs fans apparently have neither forgiven nor forgotten.
“It’s been 10 years,” Olynyk said. “Half of the people here are kids who don’t even know why they’re booing.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News