By Michael C. Wright | ESPN, 2026-01-12 13:01:09
明尼阿波利斯电——在周日的比赛中，维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 和圣安东尼奥马刺队在开局近五分钟内让主队森林狼一分未得，让标靶中心“主队进第一球前全场站立”的传统受到了严峻考验。然而，尽管开局如此强势，马刺最终仍以103-104憾负对手。
之所以如此，是因为他们的球星后卫安东尼·爱德华兹 (Anthony Edwards) 在比赛还剩16.8秒时命中一记关键抛投，帮助明尼苏达从19分的落后中奋起反击，并最终搅乱了文班亚马自新年夜以来的首场先发比赛。森林狼直到比赛仅剩2分19秒时，才凭借爱德华兹的一记11英尺转身后仰跳投，取得了本场比赛的首次领先。
“说实话，我今晚手感并不好，”爱德华兹说。“就像我跟他们说的，‘我不在乎前三节发生了什么。到了第四节，还剩三四分钟的时候，把球给我。你们可以得50分，但在第四节最后四分钟，在比赛剩下的时间里，把球给我。’”
在第四节，爱德华兹5投4中，砍下了他全队最高的23分中的9分。明尼苏达在末节打出33-18的攻击波，并利用马刺的7次失误得到了11分。
这场胜利是森林狼对马刺取得的连续第五场胜利，而19分的逆转也创下了球队本赛季最大逆转分差纪录。
“就是继续战斗，”明尼苏达前锋朱利叶斯·兰德尔 (Julius Randle) 说道。“我们投丢了很多球。我们知道自己打得并不好，尤其是在进攻端。我们打出过几波攻势，但还是投丢了太多球。只管继续前进，继续拼搏，继续战斗，看看结果会如何。”
文班亚马拿下全场最高的29分和7个篮板，从比赛一开始就统治了内线，他抢断了两次传给鲁迪·戈贝尔 (Rudy Gobert) 的空中接力，帮助圣安东尼奥打出16-0的开局。在文班亚马的首个出场时段，他仅打了3分57秒便在第一节还剩8分03秒时被换下，在此期间，明尼苏达开场前八次出手全部偏出。
爱德华兹终于在第一节还剩7分22秒时为森林狼命中了第一球，也让现场18978名目瞪口呆的观众得以坐下。
“他们之所以是难缠的对手，是因为他们有种本事，能在稍微落后或进入关键时刻时突然爆发，”马刺队教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 说。“他们很难被击败，我认为在第四节他们显然是表现更好的一方。”
在上半场，直到距离半场结束还剩10分38秒时，明尼苏达才在文班亚马在场的情况下命中了第一球，当时丹特·迪文琴佐 (Donte DiVincenzo) 突破命中了一记抛投。
“这本该是我们的比赛，”文班亚马说。“我认为我们有时忘记了应该坚持做什么。我们在上半场控制了三分线。有些时段，不是一直这样，但确实有些时段我们给了他们太多的自由空间。”
森林狼一开始用戈贝尔防守文班亚马，后来也用爱德华兹和兰德尔来防守这位马刺大个子。
大多数战术在早期都证明无效，但明尼苏达在下半场将文班亚马的得分限制在13分。比赛还剩7分24秒时，裁判吹罚了戈贝尔在补防文班亚马时犯规，经过回看后被升级为一级恶意犯规。戈贝尔在该回合还被追加了一次技术犯规，文班亚马四次罚球全部命中，帮助圣安东尼奥以91-81取得领先。
这是戈贝尔本赛季的第五次恶意犯规，这意味着他将被强制禁赛一场。
“鲁迪一开始主防他，这是一种对位，”代理因病缺阵的主教练克里斯·芬奇 (Chris Finch) 的森林狼助理教练米卡·诺里 (Micah Nori) 说道。“你必须把[文班亚马]挤出他的舒适区。然后，当他接到球时，你必须贴上去，压缩他的空间。他仍然命中了投篮。但朱利叶斯和每个人的防守努力，尤其是在下半场，我们的球员们基本上坚持执行了战术，做得非常出色。”
文班亚马在上半场10投5中，得到全场最高的16分和6个篮板，在12分钟的上场时间里，他的正负值为+21。这位22岁的球员在侧翼命中一记25英尺的远投，作为他的首个进球，帮助圣安东尼奥取得8-0的领先优势，而他上半场的得分中有11分来自第一节。
“我们必须能够终结比赛，”马刺队后卫德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 说道。“我们必须能够彻底击败一支球队。我认为[文班亚马]对我们来说表现很棒，他能站上罚球线，找到保持高效的方法。对手都在努力对他进行身体对抗，但他仍然打得极其高效。我认为裁判对他的吹罚尺度有点不同。他们允许对手在防守他时有更多的身体接触。但这是他需要去适应和解决的问题，他得想出如何应对这种情况。”
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：Anthony Edwards caps wild Timberwolves rally vs. Spurs
Anthony Edwards caps wild Timberwolves rally vs. Spurs
MINNEAPOLIS – Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs tested Target Center’s tradition of standing until Minnesota makes its first basket by holding the Timberwolves scoreless for nearly five minutes Sunday to start a game they’d still end up losing 104-103.
That’s because star guard Anthony Edwards spoiled Wembanyama’s first start since New Year’s Eve by hitting a floater with 16.8 seconds left to play as Minnesota rallied from a 19-point deficit. The Timberwolves didn’t seize their first lead until 2:19 remained, when Edwards connected on an 11-foot turnaround fadeaway.
“I didn’t really have it going tonight if I’m being honest,” Edwards said. “Like I told them, ‘I don’t care what happens in the first three quarters. Fourth quarter, three minutes, four minutes left, let me see it. Y’all can have 50 points. But in the fourth quarter, four minutes left, for the rest of the game, let me get it.’”
Edwards scored nine of his team-high 23 points in the fourth quarter on 4-of-5 shooting as Minnesota outscored San Antonio 33-18 in the final frame, putting 11 points on the board off seven Spurs turnovers.
The Timberwolves’ victory marked their fifth in a row against the Spurs, and the 19-point comeback registers as the team’s largest of the season.
“Just keep battling,” said Minnesota forward Julius Randle. “We missed a lot of shots. We know we didn’t play really well, particularly offensively. We had it going in spurts, but we missed a lot of shots. Just keep going, keep battling, keep fighting and see what happens.”
Wembanyama scored a game-high 29 points to go with seven rebounds and dominated inside from the onset, snatching away two lobs intended for Rudy Gobert as San Antonio sped to a 16-0 lead. Minnesota misfired on its first eight attempts with Wembanyama playing just 3:57 in his first stint, before checking out with 8:03 left in the first quarter.
Edwards would finally score the Timberwolves’ first basket with 7:22 left in the first quarter, thus allowing the stunned crowd of 18,978 to sit down.
“What makes them a tough matchup is they have a knack for turning it on when they get down a little bit or when it gets to crunch time,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “They’re a tough out and I thought they got the better of us obviously for sure in the fourth quarter.”
Minnesota didn’t score a basket with Wembanyama on the court in the first half until 10:38 remained until intermission, when Donte DiVincenzo drove in to hit a floater.
“It was our game for sure,” Wembanyama said. “I think sometimes we lost track of what we should have kept doing. We controlled the 3-point line in the first half. There were some stretches, not all the time, but there were some stretches where we just gave them too much freedom.”
The Timberwolves started off guarding Wembanyama with Gobert and eventually used Edwards to defend the Spurs’ big man along with Randle.
Most of the tactics proved ineffective early, but Minnesota limited Wembanyama to 13 points in the second half. With 7:24 left, officials whistled Gobert for a foul on a closeout while guarding Wembanyama, which was ruled a flagrant foul 1 after a review. Gobert was also assessed a technical foul on the play and Wembanyama connected on all four foul shots to give San Antonio a 91-81 lead.
Gobert’s flagrant foul was his fifth of the season, which means he’ll be forced to serve a one-game suspension.
“Rudy started on him and it kind of matched up,” said Timberwolves assistant coach Micah Nori, filling in for head coach Chris Finch, who was sidelined because of an illness. “You have to knock [Wembanyama] off the spot. Then, when he gets it, you have to crowd and take away his space. He still made shots. But Julius and everybody’s defensive effort, especially in the second half, just a phenomenal job by our guys to basically stick to it.”
Wembanyama scored a game-high 16 points in the first half on 5-of-10 shooting with six rebounds, while registering a plus-21 over 12 minutes. The 22-year old drilled his first basket on a 25-footer from the wing that gave San Antonio an 8-0 advantage and scored 11 of his first-half points in the opening quarter.
“We have to be able to finish games,” Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox said. “We have to be able to put a team away. I think [Wembanyama] was great for us, getting to the free throw line, finding ways to be efficient. People are trying to be physical with him. He’s still being extremely effective. I think he’s officiated a little differently. They let people get away with a little more physical play with him. But that’s for him to navigate and figure out how to attack that.”
By Michael C. Wright | ESPN, via ESPN