By Law Murray | The Athletic, 2025-12-14 06:52:18
周六晚间，圣安东尼奥马刺队以111-109的比分艰难战胜俄克拉荷马城雷霆队，成功晋级将于周二在拉斯维加斯举行的NBA杯总决赛，对手将是纽约尼克斯队。用“艰难战胜”来形容这场在最后时刻俨然变成罚球大赛的比赛，再恰当不过。在比赛的最后九秒钟内，裁判足足吹罚了五次战术犯规。
当晚的最后一记运动战进球，来自雷霆队控球后卫谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大 (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander)，他在比赛还剩14.9秒时完成了一记无人防守的扣篮，而在此5.5秒前，伤愈复出的马刺队中锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 两罚一中，帮助马刺队以106-103领先。吉尔杰斯-亚历山大的这次强硬突破被认为是无害的；由于进攻时钟已经关闭，马刺队没有必要冒险对吉尔杰斯-亚历山大如利箭般的突破做出过度反应。请注意马刺队的控球后卫德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 在被过掉后是如何放空吉尔杰斯-亚历山大的，以及福克斯的队友们是如何全部留守在外线的。
但当晚的全场最佳进球，也是决定比赛胜负的最后一记关键球，则要追溯到比赛还剩2分32秒的时候。当时雷霆队以101-100领先，他们派上了身高6英尺5英寸的防守专家亚历克斯·卡鲁索 (Alex Caruso) 去对位身高7英尺4英寸的文班亚马。
卡鲁索的防守做得相当不错，他成功地骚扰了文班亚马，迫使这位天才球员远离油漆区。然而，那11英寸的身高差距，加上文班亚马的技术，让圣安东尼奥队一举反超，并再未落后：
在最后的几分钟里，马刺队在罚球线上以9-6的比分领先雷霆队。雷霆队不得不采用犯规战术为自己争取机会，而马刺队则通过犯规来保住自己一个回合的领先优势，但比赛的胜负其实在此之前就已见分晓。
在文班亚马投中那记反超比分的进球后，雷霆队获得了多次进攻机会。在一次进攻中，吕·多尔特 (Lu Dort) 和吉尔杰斯-亚历山大先后错失三分。紧接着的下一个回合，杰伦·威廉姆斯 (Jalen Williams) 和卡鲁索又浪费了一次快攻机会。当比赛还剩1分20秒，马刺队的德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 罚球不中后，吉尔杰斯-亚历山大对文班亚马无球犯规，后者两罚全中，帮助马刺以105-101领先。
俄克拉荷马城还有两次将分差缩小到一个回合以内的机会，但杰伦·威廉姆斯投篮不中，随后吉尔杰斯-亚历山大又在试图摆脱圣安东尼奥队的斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 时耗费了太多时间，让雷霆队错失了一次执行“2换1”战术的机会。这直接导致了后续的一连串犯规，雷霆队只能寄望于马刺队罚球不中。
赛后的最后两分钟裁判报告或许会显示，雷霆队本应获得更多的罚球机会。当威廉姆斯在比赛仅剩1.5秒时故意罚球不中，卡鲁索冲入篮下抢到篮板，并获得了扳平比分的最后机会，但尽管瓦塞尔的防守有明显的身体接触，裁判并未对他的补篮尝试鸣哨，比赛就此结束。
或许，在卡鲁索那记绝望的出手上，裁判本应吹响又一次哨声，与此前响彻球馆的哨音相呼应。但无论如何，马刺队会欣然收下这场宣言式的胜利。而一度领先多达16分的雷霆队，在比赛沦为战术犯规大战之前，也曾拥有大把的机会。
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-Thunder thrilling NBA Cup semifinal ending comes down to whistles
Spurs-Thunder thrilling NBA Cup semifinal ending comes down to whistles
The San Antonio Spurs outlasted the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-109 on Saturday night to advance to Tuesday’s NBA Cup Championship against the New York Knicks in Las Vegas, with outlasted being an appropriate description for the glorified free-throw shooting contest that closed out the game. Five intentional fouls were called in the final nine seconds of the game.
The last field goal of the night was an uncontested dunk by Thunder point guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 14.9 seconds to play, 5.5 seconds after returning Spurs center Victor Wembanyama split a pair of free throws to give the Spurs a 106-103 lead. Gilgeous-Alexander’s hard drive to the basket was deemed harmless; with the shot clock turned off, there was no need to risk overreacting to Gilgeous-Alexander’s arrow to the basket. Notice how Spurs point guard De’Aaron Fox lays off Gilgeous-Alexander once beaten, and how Fox’s teammates all stayed home on the perimeter.
But the shot of the night, and the last one that mattered to the outcome, came all the way back with 2:32 left to play. The Thunder deployed 6-foot-5 defensive maven Alex Caruso on the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama with a 101-100 lead.
Caruso did well to bother Wembanyama enough to force the phenom outside of the paint. But that 11-inch height differential, combined with Wembanyama’s skill, put San Antonio in front for good:
The Spurs went on to outscore the Thunder 9-6 from the line in the waning minutes. The Thunder had to foul to give themselves a chance while the Spurs fouled to preserve their one-possession lead, but the game was decided before that.
The Thunder had multiple possessions after Wembanyama’s go-ahead field goal. Lu Dort and Gilgeous-Alexander missed 3s on one possession. Then Jalen Williams and Caruso blew a fast break opportunity on the next possession. When the Spurs’ Devin Vassell missed a free throw with 1:20 left, Gilgeous-Alexander committed a loose-ball foul on Wembanyama, who made both free throws to put the Spurs up 105-101.
Oklahoma City had two more chances to make it a one-possession game, but Jalen Williams missed a shot, and Gilgeous-Alexander took too much time trying to shake San Antonio’s Stephon Castle, costing the Thunder a chance at a 2-for-1. That led to all the fouls, along with prayers the Spurs would miss their free throws.
The last two-minute report might show the Thunder should have gotten to the line even more. When Williams intentionally missed a free throw with 1.5 seconds left, Caruso swooped in for the rebound and one last chance to tie the game, but didn’t get a whistle on his tip-in attempt despite what appeared to be contact by Vassell, and the game ended.
Perhaps there should have been another whistle to go with all the ones that came before Caruso’s desperation attempt. But the Spurs will take the statement win. And the Thunder, who led by as many as 16 points, had their chances before the game came down to intentional fouls.
By Law Murray, via The Athletic