By Mateo Mayorga | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2026-01-23 14:00:00
圣安东尼奥马刺队在犹他惊险战胜年轻的爵士队，为这次短暂的客场之旅挽回了颜面。这是一场战绩可能具有欺骗性的罕见对决，因为爵士队（15胜30负）的天赋远超其战绩所显示的水平，他们在主场奋力抵抗，并且自十月份以来队内已取得了长足的进步。这感觉就像在观看一位国际象棋大师与一位年轻后起之秀的对弈，后者在未来几年必将成为更重要的角色，而大师则赢得满头大汗。
基昂特·乔治 (Keyonte George)——他或许应该当选本赛季的“最快进步球员”，以及埃斯·贝利 (Ace Bailey) 都是真材实料的球员，他们的表现与球队的进步密不可分。此外，由于贝利和迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 是罗格斯大学的前队友，他们之间的对抗总是充满火药味，这也将让未来的比赛继续看点十足。球队首席执行官丹尼·安吉 (Danny Ainge) 应该停止“绑架”劳里·马尔卡宁 (Lauri Markkanen) 了，并将他交易出去以换取年轻球员和资产来补强爵士队，因为他是一名理想的过渡型球员。
马刺队的三分投射同样令人印象深刻。这仅仅是马刺队常规赛历史上第10次有三名球员在同一场比赛中至少命中四记三分，德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox)、朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie) 和维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 三人合计25投15中。
此处也正好可以指出，卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet) 是一位顶级的替补大个子，当文班亚马下场休息时，他的缺阵会让球队变得不堪一击。他占据了大量的内线空间，这有助于干扰对手的投篮并拼抢篮板。在这样的夜晚，文班亚马必须打出近乎完美的表现，而在这场比赛中，他做到了。
几点观察
- 令人难以置信的是，爵士队和许多其他球队总是会漏掉尚帕尼，尤其是在他穿着全场最显眼的球鞋时。要知道，在进入本场对决前，一月份只有四名球员的三分命中数比他更多。尽管如此，这已经是他本赛季第七次单场命中至少五记三分球了。这种远程火力输出让他成为了一名完美的“紧急情况下，敲碎玻璃”类型的球员。他的无球移动非常出色，并且总能在对手防守端轻易协防放空的区域游弋。根据NBA的追踪数据，可以看看他的三分出手中有 76.5% 都是空位或大空位机会。
- 卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant) 拥有极高的潜力，有望成为NBA顶尖的防守者之一。他兼具罕见的拼劲和运动能力，这将有助于他向上换防更高大的球员。此外，他场均8.2分钟仅得到2.5分这一点并不重要。他年仅20岁，每当他替补登场时，我总是会目不转睛地盯着他。新秀，即便是乐透区末段的新秀，在他们摸索进攻端打法时，都应该得到一段适应期。他在进攻端开始看起来更加自如，学会了接受进攻体系给他的机会，而不是一味地寻求那些（并不总能成功的）高光暴扣。
- 考虑到球队最近在比赛末段的挣扎表现，本场比赛第四节凭借文班亚马的精彩发挥最终终结爵士，可谓意义重大。这与他们在周二休斯顿被逆转的第四节形成了180度的大反转，在那场比赛的第四节，他们全队投篮命中率仅有18%。最近球队遇到了一些小小的颠簸，但关键在于球队能够在关键时刻指望明星球员指引方向。当球星们打出这样的表现时，他们就在更衣室里赢得了额外的信誉，这在他们需要号召全队集中注意力时至关重要。
- 如果我们讨论的是“年度最佳第六人”奖项的精神，那么凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 应该是领跑者。他的投篮不中甚至开始让人感到意外，因为他的有效命中率高达62.4%。本场比赛，他带领替补席贡献了21分、5次助攻、1次抢断和1次盖帽。
- 毫无疑问，对于一支球队来说，最困难的事情之一就是在像猎犬一样飞奔的同时，还能保持顶级的防守。马刺队本场防守出色，并在周四的比赛中创下了赛季新高的32分快攻得分。他们的比赛节奏（100.67）在联盟中处于中游水平，但一旦全力推进，就非常高效，这部分归功于文班亚马的篮板和长传发动快攻的能力。
- 向凯文·乐福 (Kevin Love) 致敬，尽管年事已高，他的移动像一头老迈的野牛，但仍然保持着高昂的活力。在更衣室里拥有这样资历的球员总是好事，这让人想起了去年克里斯·保罗 (Chris Paul) 作为一名优秀老将给马刺队带来的积极影响。
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
The San Antonio Spurs salvaged the rest of their brief road trip with a close call in Utah against the young Jazz. It was one of those rare occasions in which records could be misleading because the Jazz (15-30) have more talent than their record indicates, put up a fight at home and have made lots of internal growth since October. It almost felt like watching a grandmaster at the chessboard sweat it out against a younger prospect who will be a bigger factor in the next few years.
Keyonte George, who should probably be the Most Improved player, and Ace Bailey are the real deal and have lots to do with that. These games will continue to be special, too, since Bailey and Dylan Harper are former teammates at Rutgers who will bring the intensity against each other. Team CEO Danny Ainge should stop holding Lauri Markkanen hostage and trade him for youngsters and assets to bolster the Jazz, since he is a gateway player.
There was good reason to be impressed by the Spurs’ 3-point shooting as well. It was only the 10th time in their regular-season history that three Spurs made at least four in the same game, with De’Aaron Fox, Julian Champagnie and Victor Wembanyama combining to hit 15-25.
This is also a good time to point out that Luke Kornet is as good as a backup big man gets, and the team is vulnerable in his absences when Wembanyama sits. He takes up a lot of space, which helps disrupt shot attempts and grab rebounds. On these nights, Wembanyama has had to be close to perfect, and in this case, he was.
Takeaways
- It’s incredible how the Jazz and many other teams lose track of Champagnie, especially when he’s wearing the loudest sneakers in the building. Keep in mind that only four players had made more 3-pointers in January heading into the matchup. Nonetheless, it was his seventh time this year making at least five treys in a game. This type of long-range production makes him the perfect “in case of emergency, break glass” type of player. He moves well without the ball and roams the area opposing defenses help off too easily. Consider how 76.5 percent of his 3-point attempts are open to wide-open, per the NBA’s tracking data.
- Carter Bryant has sky-high potential as one of the top defenders in the NBA. He’s got a rare combination of hustle and athleticism that will help him guard up. Additionally, it doesn’t matter that he’s only averaging 2.5 points on 8.2 minutes per game. He’s only age 20, and I’m always glued to my seat when he checks in. Rookies, even late lottery picks, deserve a grace period while they figure out offense. He’s starting to look more comfortable on that end, taking what the offense gives him instead of seeking out highlight-real dunks (that don’t always go down).
- Considering the team’s recent late-game struggles, closing out the Jazz in the fourth quarter with fireworks from and Wembanyama was big time. It was a 180° turn from the fourth quarter they blew in Houston on Tuesday, in which they combined for 18 percent shooting. It’s been a slight speed bump, but it’s important that the team can look to the stars for direction. When they do things like this, it gives them extra credibility in the locker room when they need to call everyone to attention.
- If we are talking about the spirit of the Sixth Man of the Year award, Keldon Johnson should be the leading man. It’s starting to feel like a surprise when he misses because he’s averaging a 62. 4 effective field goal percentage. He led the bench in this one with 21 points, 5 assists, a steal and a block.
- Undoubtedly, one of the hardest things for a team to do is run like greyhounds while maintaining a top-shelf defense. The Spurs guarded well and set a new season high of 32 fastbreak points on Thursday. They are a middle-of-the-pack team in pace (100.67) yet effective when flooring it, partly because of Wembanyama‘s rebounding and outlet passing.
- Props to Kevin Love, who moves like an old buffalo in his advanced age but maintains a high level of vigor. It’s always great to have pedigree like that in a locker room, which reminds one of how Chris Paul was a good veteran who had a positive effect on the Spurs last year.
By Mateo Mayorga, via Pounding The Rock