By Marilyn Dubinski | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2026-01-11 08:00:00
赛季已近半，西部联盟的格局也开始变得愈发清晰。尽管自从马刺终结了雷霆追平队史纪录的开局、让他们回归现实之后，雷霆队的表现就相对平庸，但他们与其他西部球队之间仍然保持着相当可观（但并非不可逾越）的领先优势。（要是马刺能撤回最近输给那些胜率不足五成球队的比赛就好了！）接下来是第二梯队，排名第2至第6的球队战绩非常接近，但都稳稳领先于附加赛区；再之后便是附加赛区梯队，以及最后的摆烂弱旅梯队。
马刺和今晚的对手都处于第二梯队（尽管马刺正开始在该梯队的顶端建立起自己的领先优势）。明尼苏达森林狼本赛季的表现基本符合预期，而马刺则超出了预期，因为大多数理智的预测都认为他们更应该属于第三梯队。但即便马刺已经拉开了一些差距，也切莫掉以轻心。现在没有丝毫可以放松的空间，森林狼在过去5场比赛中赢下了4场，而马刺则因赛程的强度和密度、伤病以及进攻端的疲软，近来陷入了挣扎。
好消息是，马刺近来有遇强则强的趋势，包括昨晚对阵波士顿凯尔特人的比赛，而且他们也并未被客场的氛围所影响。尽管在11月双方的首次交锋中，森林狼在第四节占据了上风，但马刺希望在今晚完成复仇。
圣安东尼奥马刺 (27-11) vs. 明尼苏达森林狼 (25-14)
2026年1月11日 | 中部时间下午6:00
观看：FanDuel Sports | 收听：WOAI (1200 AM)
马刺伤病报告： 下午1点前公布
森林狼伤病报告： 下午1点前公布
比赛看点
体能状况
两支球队都在打背靠背的第二场比赛（且都经历了客场旅途），但双方也各有其独特的优势和劣势。对马刺而言，他们在周三对阵湖人和周六对阵凯尔特人的比赛之间有两天的休息时间，而森林狼则正在经历四天三赛。另一方面，明尼苏达的优势在于他们昨天中午就打完了比赛，因此有充足的时间从距离相对较近的克利夫兰返回，并享受一个安稳的夜晚；而马刺则是在波士顿打晚8点的比赛，抵达下一站的时间要晚得多。
最终，两队之间任何休息上的优劣势可能都会相互抵消，但马刺最近这段“打两天、歇两天”（连续三个背靠背，且每场比赛间都有旅途奔波）的赛程，本身就是一个独特的挑战，球员们也会告诉你他们更愿意打一天歇一天。（作为观众和笔者，我也更喜欢后者。）
文班 vs. 戈贝尔
维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 没有出战双方的首次交锋，但观看这两位法国天赋异禀的“亦敌亦友”（试试快速念出这个绕口令）之间的对决总是充满乐趣。尽管常因其进攻端的局限性而备受诟病，但鲁迪·戈贝尔 (Rudy Gobert) 正经历着自己职业生涯的又一个春天，他以超过72%的投篮命中率领跑全联盟，篮板数位列第三，并且如果文班未能达到评选资格，他将有望争夺其第五座年度最佳防守球员奖项。另一方面，文班正在从他本赛季的第二次伤病中逐渐恢复。他再次以替补身份出战，因此他们可能不会有太多直接对位的机会，除非他在这场比赛中重返首发阵容，但这依然为比赛增添了一层额外的看点。
仍在等待进攻节奏的回归
自从八连胜被终结以来，马刺就陷入了进攻端的低迷，目前很难判断这种状态何时或将如何回归。文班在因膝盖过度伸展伤愈复出的三场比赛中表现最为稳定，替补出场场均贡献22分，但真正的问题在于，全队在三分线外出手过多，却无法保证命中率，这拖累了球队的整体进攻。马刺昨晚凭借关键时刻的投篮和防守成功击败了凯尔特人，但越多球员能找回稳定性，像哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 这样的射手能走出长期的低迷，情况就会越好。
想要了解森林狼球迷的观点，请访问 Canis Hoopus。
您可以在我们的比赛讨论帖中关注本场比赛的实时动态，也可以通过我们的 X 账号（@poundingtherock）进行关注。
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：Game Preview: San Antonio Spurs at Minnesota Timberwolves
Game Preview: San Antonio Spurs at Minnesota Timberwolves
We are almost midway through the season, and tiers are starting to become more defined in the Western Conference. Despite looking relatively pedestrian since the Spurs helped bring them back down to earth from their record-tying start, the Thunder still have a pretty sizable (but not insurmountable) cushion between themselves and the rest of the West. (If only the Spurs’ could have their recent losses to sub-.500 teams back!) Next, there’s the second tier, featuring teams 2-6 that are all very close to each other in the standings but comfortably ahead of the play-in, followed by the play-in tier and finally the tanking bad tier.
That second tier is where both the Spurs and tonight’s opponents find themselves (although the Spurs are starting to create their own cushion at the top of that tier), with the Minnesota Timberwolves generally meeting expectations for the season while the Spurs have exceeded them considering most level-headed predictions had them more in that third tier. But even though the Spurs have some separation, don’t be fooled. There’s no room to get comfortable, and the Wolves have won 4 of their last 5, while the Spurs have struggled of late while the strength and frequency of the schedule, injuries and offense have let them down lately.
The good news is the Spurs have had a tendency to bring their best selves against better opponents lately, including last night against the Boston Celtics, and they haven’t been phased by road crowds. While the Wolves got the better of them in their fourth quarter of their first match-up back in November, the Spurs will hope to get revenge tonight.
San Antonio Spurs (27-11) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (25-14)
January 11, 2026 | 6:00 PM CT
Watch: FanDuel Sports | Listen: WOAI (1200 AM)
Spurs injuries: Not due until 1 PM
Timberwolves injuries: Not due until 1 PM
What to watch for
Energy Levels
Both teams are on the second night of a back-t0-back (with travel), but both also have their own unique advantage/disadvantage. For the Spurs, they had a two-day break between the Lakers game on Wednesday and Celtics game on Saturday, while the Wolves are playing their third game in four nights. On the other hand, Minnesota’s advantage is they played at noon yesterday and therefore had plenty of time to travel back from relatively nearby Cleveland and have a restful evening, while the Spurs played at 8:00 PM in Boston and traveled in much later.
Ultimately, any rest advantage/disadvantage between the teams may be a wash, but the Spurs’ recent stretch of “two days on, two days off” (three consecutive back-to-backs with travel between all games), has been its own unique challenge, and the players would tell you they’d prefer just alternating days over this. (As a viewer and writer, I’d prefer it too.)
Wemby vs. Gobert
Victor Wembanyama did not play in their first match-up, but it has always been fun watching these two French freak-of-nature frenemies (try to say that fast out loud) go after each other. Despite being often maligned for his offensive limitations, Rudy Gobert is having a bit of a renaissance year for himself, leading the league in field-goal percentage at over 72%, third in rebounds, and in contention for his fifth Defensive Player of the Year award if Wemby fails to qualify. On the other hand, Wemby is working himself back from his second injury of the season. He’s once again doing it in a bench role, so they may not see as much of each other unless this is the game he moves back to the starting lineup, but it still adds an extra level of intrigue to the game.
Still waiting for the offensive rhythm to return
The Spurs have been in an offensive funk ever since their 8-game win streak came to an end, and at this point it’s hard to know when or how it will return. Wemby has been the closest thing to consistent in his three games back from a hyper-extended knee, averaging 22 points off the bench, but the real culprit has been the team’s inability as a whole to hit threes while arguably shooting too many of them, which bogs down the rest of the offense. The Spurs managed to beat the Celtics last night with clutch shooting and defense, but the sooner more players can find consistency and shooters like Harrison Barnes can get out of extended funks, the better.
For the Timberwolves fans’ perspective, visit Canis Hoopus.
You can follow along with game here on the Game Thread, as well as on our X profile (@poundingtherock).
By Marilyn Dubinski, via Pounding The Rock