By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-01-27 15:27:55
2026年1月20日，星期二，在休斯顿举行的一场NBA篮球比赛的下半场，休斯顿火箭队前锋凯文·杜兰特 (Kevin Durant) (7号) 和圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) (1号) 注视着一名裁判召集工作人员修理损坏的篮筐。(美联社照片/阿什利·兰迪斯)
马刺队后卫德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 从未踏足过休斯顿火箭队的更衣室，也肯定没有在那里安装窃听器。
他同样不声称自己有千里眼，或是能读懂火箭队主教练埃米·乌度卡 (Ime Udoka) 的心思。
然而，随着马刺队与他们“10号州际公路死敌”的又一场对决即将在周三于丰田中心上演，瓦塞尔却能猜到火箭队在想什么。
马刺球风偏软。马刺可以被欺负。马刺可以任人摆布。
“我觉得其他球队就是抱着这种心态来跟我们打球的，”瓦塞尔说。“他们会想：‘我们可以对他们打得更有身体对抗性。’这绝不是你想要的。你不想被看作是一支球风偏软的球队。”
在过去几场比赛中，马刺队的表现对于洗刷自己“软弱”的名声并无助益。
周日，新奥尔良鹈鹕队——战绩上是西部最差的球队——大摇大摆地走进弗罗斯特银行中心，在48分钟的大部分时间里对马刺队予取予求。
新奥尔良在第三节一度取得了20分的领先优势，之后马刺队才展现出复苏迹象，并在第四节反超了比分。
然而，鹈鹕队最终打出一波17-3的攻击波锁定胜局，送给马刺队这场31胜15负赛季中最令人沮丧的失利之一。
新奥尔良的比赛计划对马刺来说并非什么秘密。
“最近，从对手与我们交手的方式中，我们得到了很多反馈，（身体对抗）绝对是比赛的主旋律，”马刺队教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 说。“这是我们必须挺身而出、加以应对的方面。”
不难看出马刺在对阵战绩不佳的鹈鹕时短板何在。
他们在篮板球上被对手完爆，新奥尔良以58-46占据篮板优势。鹈鹕队抢下了19个进攻篮板，从而在二次进攻得分上以23-9遥遥领先。
他们在内线得分的较量中也以58-32胜出。
防守端，鹈鹕队成功地将马刺队球星文班亚马挤出了他的舒适区，将他的得分限制在16投6中得到16分。
新奥尔良在后场摆出了高大阵容，经常使用臂展出众的赫伯特·琼斯 (Herb Jones) 和特雷·墨菲 (Trey Murphy) 组合，来阻止马刺队天赋异禀的后场三人组——德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox)、斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 和迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper)——在内线翻江倒海。
这导致了马刺队本赛季得分最低的一场比赛，而他们的对手是一支防守效率排名联盟倒数前五的球队。
“你必须保持那种拼劲，愿意去拼抢，无论是抢篮板还是付出额外的努力之类的事情，”约翰逊说。“我们必须把这一点作为重中之重，因为我们知道这是我们需要改进的地方。”
进入周三在休斯顿的比赛，马刺队的首要任务很简单。
“你不想感觉自己像是被教训了一顿，”瓦塞尔说。
这个动词的选择很有意思。
在去年11月马刺以121-110击败火箭后，乌度卡就用过这个词——“被教训了”——来形容他球队的遭遇。
当马刺上周前往丰田中心进行复赛时，火箭队以其人之道还治其人之身。
在那场比赛中，休斯顿在第四节将马刺的得分限制在14分，通过苦战以111-106逆转取胜。
换作在另一个时代，这足以让米奇·约翰逊的前任格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 公开地——甚至可能夹杂着脏话——质疑他球队的骨气和韧性。而球员们除了点头认同之外，别无选择。
“我们不能成为一支技巧型球队，或者任人摆布的软柿子，”瓦塞尔说。“我不是说要用恶意犯规去伤害任何人，但归根结底，我们必须证明我们的存在感。”
对马刺而言，这既是身体上的挑战，也是精神上的考验。
“我们是一支天赋出众的篮球队，但有时我们过于依赖天赋了，”文班亚马说。“天赋经常能拯救我们，但总有些日子你的投篮会失准，所以你必须能够在所有其他方面影响比赛。”
当谈到马刺队需要更强硬地应对身体对抗时，文班亚马明确表示，他也是在对自己说。
在文班亚马的第三个NBA赛季进行到一半时，关于这位7英尺4英寸法国人的应对之策已经非常明确了。他天赋异禀，技术精湛，一旦找到节奏，足以在联盟任何一支球队面前爆发。
想要有机会对抗文班亚马，唯一的方法就是用身体消耗他——然后祈祷他被击垮。
一个典型的例子是：在上周客场负于休斯顿的比赛中，文班亚马仅得到14分，追平了他自11月以来的最低得分。
他全场21投5中，这是他在出手至少15次的比赛中，生涯命中率最差的一场。他错失了全部7次三分出手。
在全能防守者阿门·汤普森 (Amen Thompson) 的带领下，火箭队拥有那种气质和人员配置，专治不还手的球队。
“这个策略很奏效，”文班亚马说。
在马刺队证明这套打法行不通之前，这个策略将继续对他们奏效。
周三在休斯顿，他们将迎来下一个向全联盟证明自己并非软柿子的机会。
“我们知道他们的比赛计划，我们知道他们会怎么打，”瓦塞尔说。“我们只需要为此做好准备。”
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) defends against Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant, San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (3) and San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) reach for a loose ball during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) blocks a shot by Houston Rockets center Clint Capela (30) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) defends against Houston Rockets guard Reed Sheppard (15) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson, left, shoots against San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Houston Rockets center Clint Capela (30) defends against San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) reacts after a collision with San Antonio Spurs forward Keldon Johnson (3) during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) controls the ball against Houston Rockets forward Dorian Finney-Smith during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
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：Spurs head to Houston hoping to shed their ″soft″ reputation
Spurs head to Houston hoping to shed their “soft” reputation
Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) and San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) watch as an official calls crew members to fix a damaged hoop during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Houston, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Spurs guard Devin Vassell has never set foot in the Houston Rockets’ locker room. He certainly doesn’t have the place bugged.
Neither does he claim to be clairvoyant or able to read the mind of Rockets coach Ime Udoka.
With another matchup between the Spurs and their Interstate-10 rivals looming Wednesday at the Toyota Center, however Vassell can guess what the Rockets are thinking.
The Spurs are soft. The Spurs can be bullied. The Spurs can be pushed around.
“I feel like that’s kind of how the teams come in,” Vassell said. “They’re like, ‘We can be more physical to them.’ That’s just not what you want. You don’t want to be a team that’s looked at as being soft.”
Over the past several games, the Spurs have not done much to dispel their reputation as a team sponsored by Charmin.
On Sunday, the New Orleans Pelicans – by record the worst team in the Western Conference — strode into the Frost Bank Center and spent most of the 48 minutes robbing the Spurs of their lunch money.
New Orleans seized a 20-point advantage in third quarter before the Spurs showed signs of life and regained the lead in the fourth.
The Pelicans ended the game on a 17-3 run to claim victory and send the Spurs to one of the more disheartening defeats of their 31-15 season.
New Orleans’ game plan was not exactly a secret to the Spurs.
“We’ve gotten a lot of feedback recently from how teams have played us and that (physicality) is definitely how it is going to be,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “It’s going to be something that we’re going to have to step up in.”
It isn’t difficult to see where the Spurs fell short against the lowly Pelicans.
They were brutalized on the glass, with New Orleans earning a 58-46 rebounding edge. The Pelicans amassed 19 offensive rebounds, leading to a 23-9 advantage in second-chance points.
They also won the paint battle 58-32.
Defensively, the Pelicans succeeded in shoving Spurs star Victor Wembanyama off his preferred spots, limiting him to 16 points on 6 of 16 shooting.
New Orleans went big in the backcourt, often using the rangy pairing of Herb Jones and Trey Murphy to prohibit the Spurs’ talented guard trio of De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle and Dylan Harper from running amok in the paint.
It resulted in the Spurs’ lowest-scoring game of the season, against a team that ranks in the bottom 5 of the NBA defensively.
“You’ve got to have that edge and be willing to fight it out, whether its rebounding or making the extra efforts or things like that,” Johnson said. “We have to make that a point of emphasis, knowing that’s what we need to get better at.”
Heading into Wednesday’s game in Houston, the Spurs’ top priority is simple.
“You don’t want to feel like you’re getting punked,” Vassell said.
It is an interesting choice of verb.
After the Spurs defeated the Rockets 121-110 in November, Udoka used that word — “punked” — to describe what had happened to his club.
When the Spurs traveled to the Toyota Center for a rematch last week, the Rockets returned the favor.
In that game, Houston held the Spurs to 14 points in the fourth quarter to grind out a 111-106 come-from-behind win.
In a different era, it would have been enough to cause Mitch Johnson’s predecessor, Gregg Popovich, to publicly — and perhaps profanely — question his team’s spine and fortitude. Players would have had little choice but to agree.
“We can’t be kind of a finesse team or somebody who’s just going to let somebody just get pushed around,” Vassell said. “I’m not saying have a hard foul and hurt nobody, but end of the day we got to show that we’re here.”
For the Spurs, the challenge is as much mental as it is physical.
“We have a talented basketball team, and we rely on that too much sometimes,” Wembanyama said. “Our talent bails us out often, but there’s some days where you can’t make shots, so you have to be able to impact the game in every other area.”
When it comes to the Spurs’ need to power through physical play, Wembanyama made clear he is also talking to himself.
Midway through Wembanyama’s third NBA season, the book on the 7-foot-4 Frenchman is clear. He is wildly talented, and skilled enough to detonate on any team in the league if he gets going.
The only way to stand a chance against Wembanyama is to beat him up — and hope he breaks.
Case in point: In last week’s defeat in Houston, Wembanyama managed 14 points, matching his lowest total since November.
He was 5 of 21 from the field, the worst percentage of his career in a game in which he attempted at least 15 shots. He missed all seven of his 3-point tries.
Led by do-it-all defender Amen Thompson, the Rockets boast the personality and personnel to push around a team that won’t push back.
“The strategy works,” Wembanyama said.
That strategy will keep working against the Spurs, until they can prove it doesn’t.
Their next chance to prove the NBA wrong about them comes Wednesday in Houston.
“We know their game plan, we know how they’re going to play,” Vassell said. “We’ve just got to be ready for it.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News