By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-12-18 14:48:37
圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) (5号) 在2025年12月16日，周二，于拉斯维加斯举行的NBA杯总决赛上半场对阵纽约尼克斯队的比赛中，完成一次扣篮后庆祝。(美联社照片/Ian Maule)
第一个为球队定下挑战目标的，正是维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 本人。
当在训练营被问及，怎样才算马刺队2025-26赛季的成功时，文班亚马给出了一个明确的答案。
“成功就是打进季后赛，而不是附加赛，”文班亚马说。“所以我猜那意味着（西部）第六名。”
对于一支已经连续六个赛季无缘季后赛的球队来说，这似乎是一个雄心勃勃的目标，甚至可以说是有些大胆。
然而，在经历了25场比赛和一次NBA杯决赛之旅后，马刺队不禁让人觉得，文班亚马或许把季前赛的目标定得太低了。
“我认为队员们意识到，他们不仅仅想成为一支季后赛球队，”后卫德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 表示，他入选了本届NBA杯的最佳阵容。“我们想打进去，并且打出名堂。我们想成为那些为总冠军而战的球队之一。”
NBA杯的征程已经结束，马刺队在周二于拉斯维加斯一场苦战后以113-124不敌纽约尼克斯队。周四，他们重返常规赛的日程。
首先是在主场迎战实力较弱的华盛顿奇才队，这也是他们背靠背赛程的第一场，周五他们将前往亚特兰大。
他们从拉斯维加斯归来，并希望这次闯入NBA杯决赛的经历——包括在淘汰赛中先后击败波特兰开拓者、丹佛掘金和洛杉矶湖人，并在半决赛中淘汰强大的俄克拉荷马城雷霆——能够为他们开启通往更远大目标的道路。
这支未经考验的马刺队从拉斯维加斯的经历中收获了什么？
“可能最重要的就是那个词——经验，”主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 说。“我不确定所有球队在NBA杯中的收获如何，但能够感受那些比赛、投入那些比赛、沉浸在那些比赛的瞬间，我认为这是一次宝贵的经历。”
对马刺而言，将目标定得更高的想法，来自于队中一名身经百战的球员。那是在秋天，就在文班亚马设定了那个看似已经足够远大的西部第六种子目标后不久。
33岁的老将前锋、曾随金州勇士队夺得NBA总冠军的哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 向更衣室里的其他人提出了一个问题。
仅仅打进季后赛就足够了吗？
以第八种子的身份勉强进入季后赛，然后在首轮出局，这样算成功吗？以第四种子的身份晋级，却在首轮被横扫，这会是成功的感觉吗？
作为一支球队，马刺真正想要的是什么？
福克斯至今仍记得那一刻。
“就像你看动画片时，人物头顶上会冒出一个问号，”福克斯说。“我想当他说出那番话时，队员们都有点震惊。”
福克斯回忆道，当时大家得出了一致的结论。
“我想更衣室里没有人会说，‘是的，我们度过了一个成功的赛季，因为我们打进了季后赛，然后就被对手碾压了’，”福克斯说。
圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫迪兰·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) (2号) 在2025年12月16日，周二，于拉斯维加斯举行的NBA杯总决赛下半场对阵纽约尼克斯队的比赛中，命中一记三分球后庆祝。(美联社照片/Ian Maule)
那场关于追求更高目标的对话，激励着马刺队打出了优异的开局。在周四比赛前，他们取得了18胜7负的战绩，与湖人队并列于竞争惨烈的西部第三位。
“我认为那次谈话为我们现在所做的一切注入了动力，”福克斯谈到巴恩斯的发言时说。“它确实给队员们注入了能量。”
马刺队非常清楚前路的艰难。
通常情况下，一支球队不会在连续六年无缘季后赛后，立刻就能在季后赛中走得很远。
这也是文班亚马最初将球队目标设定为第六种子的部分原因。对于像马刺这样的队伍，下一个阶段本应是先打进季后赛，然后通过被经验更丰富的球队痛击一顿来学习和成长。
“当一支球队从未打过季后赛，然后你迎来了第一场季后赛，那种强度的骤变，会像一辆卡车一样向你撞来，”福克斯说。“它会给你当头一棒，因为你从未感受过那种氛围。”
马刺队希望，他们在NBA杯锦标赛中的深入体验，及其“赢或回家”的淘汰赛性质和“准季后赛”氛围，最终可能帮助他们跳过一两个成长阶段。
“这不会是一个决定性的飞跃，但仍然是重要的一步，因为那是高风险的比赛，双方都会全力争胜，”文班亚马说。“这表明我们正在做准备，我们将迈过这一步，为季后赛中更重要的比赛做好准备。”
这是很久以来，季后赛对马刺而言第一次不再仅仅是遥不可及的梦想——以至于他们的目标也随之改变。
仅仅以第六种子的身份挤进季后赛，似乎已经不够了。
“我们正日复一日，一步一个脚印地努力去赢得总冠军，”福克斯说。“如果我们今年就能做到，那将是了不起的，将创造历史。有人会说我们进度超前了，但我认为我们正好处在我们应该在的位置上。”
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama, right, dunks the ball past New York Knicks guard Tyler Kolek in the second half of an NBA Cup championship basketball game, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (Kirby Lee/Pool Photo via AP)
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) attempts to shoot the ball against the New York Knicks in the second half of an NBA Cup championship basketball game, Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (Kirby Lee/Pool Photo via AP)
New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) drives against San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagne (30) during the second half of the NBA Cup championship basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
New York Knicks guard Jordan Clarkson (00) and San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) contest for a loose ball during the second half of the NBA Cup championship basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
San Antonio Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox (4) shoots against New York Knicks center Ariel Hukporti (55) during the first half of the NBA Cup championship basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) shoots against New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson (23) during the first half of the NBA Cup championship basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) shoots against the New York Knicks during the first half of the NBA Cup championship basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
After the San Antonio Spurs’ 113-124 loss against the New York Knicks in a match for the NBA cup Tuesday evening, Wemby revealed that he had played through the game with a heavy heart.
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 Spurs returned from NBA Cup with eyes on playoff run
How the Spurs returned from NBA Cup with eyes on playoff run
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) reacts after a dunk against the New York Knicks during the first half of the NBA Cup championship basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
It was Victor Wembanyama himself who first laid down the gauntlet.
Asked during training camp what would make the 2025-26 season a success for the Spurs, Wembanyama gave a specific answer.
"Success would be getting into the playoffs and not the play-in (tournament),” Wembanyama said. “So I guess that means sixth seed.”
For a team that has not made the playoffs in six seasons and counting, it seemed like an ambitious goal, if not a downright audacious one.
Twenty-five games and one NBA Cup finals appearance into the season, the Spurs can’t help but shake the notion Wembanyama might have set the preseason bar too low.
“I think guys realized they didn’t just want to be a playoff team,” said guard De’Aaron Fox, who was named to the NBA Cup all-tournament team. “We want to go in and we want to make a statement. We want to be one of those teams trying to compete for a championship.”
The NBA Cup behind them, ending with a hard-fought 124-113 defeat against New York in Las Vegas on Tuesday, the Spurs resumed regularly scheduled programming Thursday.
First came a home game against the lowly Washington Wizards, marking the first night of a back-to-back that will send them to Atlanta on Friday.
They returned from Vegas with the hope that their run to the NBA Cup championship game, which included wins in elimination games at Portland, Denver and the Los Angeles Lakers before knocking off mighty Oklahoma City in the semifinals, might set them on a path to bigger and better things.
What did the untested Spurs’ roster gain from its experience in Las Vegas?
“Probably that word more than anything — experience,” coach Mitch Johnson said. “I’m not sure about all the Cup experience of all teams, but to be able to feel those games, work those games, be in the moment in those games, I think is a valuable experience.”
For the Spurs, the idea to aim higher came from one of their most battle-hardened players. It was back in the fall, not long after Wembanyama had set what seemed like a lofty enough goal of obtaining the sixth seed in the Western Conference.
Harrison Barnes, the 33-year-old veteran forward who won an NBA championship with Golden State, posed a question to the rest of the locker room.
Is simply making the playoffs sufficient?
Would sneaking in as the eighth seed and losing in the first round be good enough? Would qualifying as the fourth seed and getting swept in the first round feel like success?
What do the Spurs as a team really want?
Fox remembers the moment.
“It’s like if you’re watching an animated show, you have a question mark on top of people’s heads,” Fox said. “I think he kind of shocked guys whenever he said that.”
The conclusion, as Fox recalls, was unanimous.
“I don’t think anybody in the locker room would be like, ‘Yeah, we had a successful season because we went in the playoffs and then just got steamrolled,’” Fox said.
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) reacts after making a 3-point basket against the New York Knicks during the second half of the NBA Cup championship basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Ian Maule)
That conversation about going for more has fueled the Spurs to a start that had them at 18-7 heading into Thursday and tied with the Lakers for the third spot in a brutal top of the Western Conference.
“I think that kind of fueled what we have going,” Fox said of Barnes’ statement. “It definitely put a battery on guys’ backs.”
The Spurs are well aware of the difficulty that lies ahead.
Teams don’t generally go from missing the playoffs six seasons in a row to making a deep postseason run.
This was part of the thinking that led Wembanyama to originally set the Spurs’ goal at the sixth seed. For a squad like the Spurs, the next step is supposed to be simply getting into the playoffs and learning what they are all about by virtue of getting their brains beat in by a more experienced team.
“When you have a team that hasn’t played in the playoffs and then you get that first playoff game and the intensity, how it changes, it can hit you like a truck,” Fox said. “It can hit you like a truck because you haven’t felt that before.”
The Spurs are hopeful their deep foray into the NBA Cup tournament, with its win-or-you’re-out ethos and playoffs-lite environment, might eventually help them skip a step or two.
“It’s not going to be a super significant step, but still a significant one because it’s a high-stakes game that both teams are going to be very invested in winning,” Wembanyama said. “It just shows that we are preparing and we will pass the next step for more significant games in the playoffs.”
For the first time in a while, the playoffs seem like more than just a pipe dream for the Spurs — so much so the goals have changed.
Simply sneaking into the postseason as a sixth seed no longer feels good enough.
“We’re going day by day, step by step to try to win a championship,” Fox said. “If we can do it this year, that would be fantastic, make history. Some would say we’re a little bit ahead of schedule, but I think we’re right where we need to be.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News