By Charlie Thaddeus | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2026-01-20 17:02:29
这是一场“必须拿下”的比赛。恕我直言，爵士队实力不济，而且他们还缺少了队内最好的球员。而马刺队则阵容齐整、休息充分，并且坐镇主场。我的意思是，这场比赛的重要性再怎么强调也不为过，你就是必须赢下来。
然而，考虑到马刺本赛季遇弱不强的习性，我们并不能想当然地认为他们会轻松带走比赛。远非如此。我们见过他们输掉一模一样的比赛。老实说，相比于对阵联盟顶级强队，这样的比赛更让我心惊胆战。
所以，尽管比赛中段球队一度表现得像是集体断电，但对所有相关的人来说，这仍然是一个相当美好的夜晚。这是我们想看到的场面，更重要的是，这是我们需要看到的场面。
说真的，我没有太多别的话要说。球队的进攻看起来运转得更加流畅高效，从本月部分时间里陷入的低迷状态中漂亮地恢复了过来。当然，当你队里的那个巨人投进了七记三分，并且打出了我们所熟知的那种统治级表现时，一切都会变得容易。他很棒，我们知道他很棒。是的，对阵爵士这样的球队，他理应打出予取予求的表现。但能亲眼看他做到这一切，仍然是一件赏心悦事。亮出火焰喷射器，不留任何悬念。这正是联盟中的明星球员该做的事，也是你当初签下他们的原因。
这场胜利也清晰地展现了本赛季这支马刺队想要成为的样子。进攻端并非完美无瑕，但显然有能力打出今晚这样的表现。球队的进攻非常均衡。文班亚马是本场比赛的进攻支点，但我们也见过德阿隆·福克斯扮演这个角色，而在其他夜晚，进攻重担则被更平均地分摊。重要的是，球队的进攻感觉不再脆弱。当第一波战术被破坏时，通常还会有第二或第三个选择。球在移动，场上空间保持得很好，进攻回合最终都以合理的投篮告终。
过去几场比赛的投篮方式就很好地体现了这一点。三分球的出手数量有所增加，但出手机会感觉更好了。我们不再看到那么多在进攻时间所剩无几时的仓促出手。取而代之的是，我们看到了来自挡拆、挡拆外切、突分以及在对方防守立足未稳时的早期进攻所创造出的机会。当你将这些与多位持球手相结合，而他们又能很自如地维持住进攻优势时，这支球队的进攻就不再像是一支仍在摸索的年轻队伍，而更像是一个在执行计划的集体。
至于他们为何有时会偏离这种打法，我没有答案。也许是专注度不够，或许是缺乏经验，又或者，你知道的，也许这本身就比他们表现出来的要困难得多。这当然有可能。我所知道的是，他们有能力做到这些。我们已经见证了足够多次，足以确信这一点。在我看来，这应该是他们时刻都应被要求达到的标准。
防守在这一切中扮演了重要角色。马刺的防守很好，而且整个赛季都很好。当文班亚马在场上时，防守更是变得令人窒息。这些球员在场上防守时充满自信。他们极具侵略性，他们会伸手抢断，他们会轮转换位。他们愿意冒险，因为他们相信身后的队友会补防。这种压力会让对手失去平衡，而一旦他们开始摇摆不定，就极难恢复过来。
当这种情况发生时，你能感觉得到。这里一个糟糕的传球，那里一个仓促的投篮。突然之间，马刺队开始起势，观众被唤醒，进攻也变得更加轻松。这个循环——防守制造混乱，混乱再反哺进攻——正开始成为这支球队真正的特质。到了那个地步，马刺队真正需要做的就是把球投进。
听起来很简单，对吧？
这是一场漂亮的胜利。这类胜利本该感觉轻松，但出于某种原因，本赛季并非如此。马刺队今天做好了自己的本职工作，干脆利落地解决了战斗。在大多数夜晚，这其实就是我们所要求的一切。
比赛看点
- 恭喜维克托以首发身份入选全明星。我就知道你能行，伙计。现在去享受比赛，玩得开心，让我们为你骄傲，并记住最重要的一条规则。来，跟我一起说：“不！要！受！伤！” 听到了吗？ Ne te blesse pas!
- 这场比赛的主场氛围简直太棒了。考虑到这是一个在节假日举行的、开赛时间有点奇怪的比赛，对手也并非那种能让人心跳加速的强敌，但球馆里的能量却异常充沛。球迷们都非常兴奋。感觉马刺今年拥有了真正的主场优势，这在如今大多数NBA比赛中已经不是理所当然的事了。我迫不及待想看看这种优势在季后赛中会如何转化。
- 我很高兴队里没人感到恐慌。我可以恐慌，你也可以恐慌。我们所有这些坐在家里的键盘侠们都可以为每场比赛抓狂。但更衣室里的球员们似乎相当冷静。短暂的低迷不会让任何人气馁，而且它们也从未真正滚雪球般地演变成更大的问题。
- 卡斯尔就是这方面的一个绝佳例子。他在十二月打出了一段极其出色的篮球表现，好到让我感觉如痴如醉。本月早些时候，他看起来好像忘了怎么投篮。而过去几场比赛呢？他悄然找回了昔日的状态。虽然没有完全火力全开，但看起来沉着冷静、充满自信。投篮开始命中，他能组织进攻，并且控制住了失误。就像这支球队的其他队员一样，他似乎从不因顺境而骄傲自满，也不因逆境而垂头丧气。这虽然不华丽，但正是这种气质让球队的巅峰期真实可靠，低谷期也能安然度过。这是如此的“马刺”风骨，几乎让我有些激动。我得冷静一下。
- 太炸了！
OH MY ROOOOOK PT. 1
@ FanDuelSN_SW pic.twitter.com/Bf0o66zHRI
— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) January 20, 2026
- 太炸了！！！
OH MY ROOOOOK PT. 2
— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) January 20, 2026
WWL 赛后新闻发布会
– 今晚是背靠背的第二场。作为一名作者，你是如何为这样的情况做准备的？
– 嗯，很明显，第一点，你必须补充水分。人们总是忘记这一点，但写作这回事，大概有63%的工作就是在动笔前的一整天里保持身体适度的水分。
– 63%？真的吗？
– 是的。这能让你的大脑和身体其他部分之间火花四溅，让一切保持协调。写作既是脑力活动，也是体力活动，而这一点并没有得到足够多人的关注。
– 怎么说？
– 我的意思是，你想想看。要写这样一篇文章，你的双手必须在键盘上不停地移动。打字所涉及的灵巧性是一项耐力考验，不亚于踢90分钟的足球比赛。
–足球不是公认的最不需要手部技巧的运动之一吗？比如，它唯一的规则就是不准用手。
– 你的思维太局限了，我需要你放眼全球。让你的大脑跳出思维定式，去探索它从未考虑过的领域。想象一下，写作这一体力活动与一名球员在足球场上比赛，存在于同一个谱系中，然后让这两个画面融合在一起，升华你对“何为艺术创作”的理解。
–好吧。明白了。所以，补充水分。你的补水策略是什么？
– 我整个上午大概会喝四到五杯咖啡，午饭后到比赛开始前，我大概还会再喝四到五杯。
– 懂了。现在前面那部分说辞开始说得通了。
– 对吧？和我一起踏上这段旅程吧。让我们一起飞翔，兄弟。马刺现在是西部第二，我们今晚要打火箭队。生活真美好！生活真奇妙！生活真是天赐的礼物！
由生成式 AI 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：What We Learned from the Spurs win over the Jazz
What We Learned from the Spurs win over the Jazz
This was one of those “had to have it” games. The Jazz are, respectfully, not good. They were missing their best player. The Spurs were healthy, rested, and at home. I mean, It can’t be overstated how much you simply have to win this one.
And yet, given their propensity this year for playing down to competition, the Spurs just running away with it did not feel like something we could mark down as automatic. Not even close. We have seen them lose this exact game before. Honestly, games like this scare me more than the ones against the cream of the crop.
So despite a stretch in the middle where it felt like a few controllers got unplugged, this was a pretty nice evening for everyone involved. It’s what we wanted to see. And more importantly, it’s what we needed to see.
I don’t have a whole lot else to say, really. The offense looked like it was humming along a little more efficiently, recovering nicely from the doldrums it has been stuck in for parts of this month. Sure, it helps when the Giant on your team drains seven threes and generally behaves like the menace we all know he can be. He’s great. We know he’s great. And yes, he should be able to eat against a team like the Jazz. But it is still nice to just watch him do it. Pull out the flamethrower. Leave no doubt. That is what the stars in this league are supposed to do. It is why you hire them in the first place.
This win also felt like a pretty clean snapshot of what this year’s iteration of the Spurs is trying to be. The offense is not perfect, but it’s clearly capable of nights like this. There was a real balance to it. Wembanyama was the anchor in this one, but we have seen De’Aaron Fox fill that role too, and on other nights the load has been spread out even further. What mattered is that the offense didn’t feel fragile. When the first action got blown up, there was usually a second or third option available. The ball moved. The floor stayed spaced. Possessions ended with shots that made sense.
A lot of that shows up in the way they have been shooting the ball over the last few games. The three point volume has crept up, but the looks feel cleaner. We aren’t seeing as many desperation heaves late in the clock. Instead, we’re getting looks coming out of pick and roll and pick and pop actions, drive and kick sequences, and early offense before the defense is set. When you combine that with multiple ball handlers who are comfortable keeping an advantage alive, the offense starts to feel less like a young team searching and more like a group executing a plan.
I don’t have an answer for why they seem to drift away from that at times. Maybe it’s focus or lack of experience or, you know, maybe it’s just harder than they make it look. That’s certainly possible. All I know is that they are capable of this. We’ve seen it enough to know that, and it’s the standard they should be held to at all times as far as I’m concerned.
The defense plays a big role in all of this. It’s good, and it’s been good all year. When Wembanyama is on the floor, it becomes downright oppressive. These guys just defend with so much confidence out there. They’re aggressive. They reach. They rotate. They’re willing to gamble because they trust the help behind them. That kind of pressure knocks teams off balance, and once that wobble starts it is incredibly hard to recover.
You can feel it when it happens. A bad pass here. A rushed shot there. Suddenly the Spurs are running, the crowd wakes up, and the offense gets easier. That loop, defense creating chaos and chaos feeding offense, is starting to feel like a real part of this team’s identity. At that point, all the Spurs really have to do is hit shots.
Easy enough, right?
This was a nice win. It’s the type of win that should feel easy but, for whatever reason, hasn’t this year. The Spurs did a good job of showing up for work and taking care of business. Most nights, that’s really all we’re asking for.
Takeaways
- Congrats to Victor on making the All-Star team as a starter. I knew you had it in you, bud. Now go out there, have some fun, make us proud, and remember the most important rule of all. Come on, say it with me: “Don’t! Get! Hurt!” You hear me? Ne te blesse pas!
- Insanely good home crowd at this game. Considering it was a weird start time on a holiday against an opponent that doesn’t necessarily get the heart racing, there was a ton of energy in the building. The people are pumped. It really feels like the Spurs have an actual home-court advantage this year, in a way that doesn’t feel like a given at most NBA games these days. I can’t wait to see how that translates in the playoffs.
- I’m glad nobody on the team is panicking. I’m allowed to panic. You’re allowed to panic. All of us jabronis sitting at home can freak out game to game. The guys in the locker room, though, seem pretty chill. Little slumps don’t get anyone down, and they never really snowball into something bigger.
- Castle is a great example of this. In December he played a stretch of basketball so good it had me tasting colors. Earlier this month he looked like he maybe forgot how to shoot the ball. Last few games? He’s quietly settled back into his old self. Not quite setting everything on fire, but just looking poised and sure of himself. Shots are falling, he’s making plays, and he’s keeping turnovers down. Like the rest of the guys on this team, he never seems to get too high or too low. It’s not flashy, but it’s exactly the kind of temperament that makes the ups real and the downs survivable. It’s so very Spursy it almost makes me emotional. I need to pull it together.
- Sick!
OH MY ROOOOOK PT. 1
— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) January 20, 2026
- Sick!!!
OH MY ROOOOOK PT. 2
— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) January 20, 2026
WWL Post Game Press Conference
– Second night of a back-to-back tonight. As a writer, how do you get ready for something like this?
– Well, obviously, number one, you have to hydrate. People forget this, but something like 63 percent of writing is just maintaining the right level of hydration throughout the day in the lead-up to putting words down.
– 63%? Really?
– Yeah. It keeps the sparks flowing between your brain and the rest of your body. Keeps everything attuned. Writing is as much a physical process as it is mental, and not enough people are talking about that.
– How so?
– I mean, think about it. To write a piece like this, your hands are in constant motion around the keyboard. The dexterity involved in typing is an endurance test, not dissimilar to playing 90 minutes of soccer.
–Isn’t soccer famously one of the least dexterous sports out there? Like, the one rule is to not be dexterous.
– You’re thinking locally right now, and I need you to think globally. Get your brain out of its box and let it go places it hasn’t considered. Imagine the physical act of writing existing on the same spectrum as a man playing in a soccer match, and let that image meld together into something that elevates your understanding of what it means to create art.
–Right. Okay. So, hydration. What’s your hydration strategy?
– I drink roughly four to five cups of coffee over the course of the morning, and then after lunch I have about four to five more in the lead-up to the game.
– Got it. The earlier part is starting to make more sense now.
– Right? Go with me on this journey. Let’s fly together, brother. The Spurs are the two seed in the West and we play the Rockets tonight. Life is good! Life is magical! Life is a blessing!
By Charlie Thaddeus, via Pounding The Rock