By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-02-22 13:09:24
2026年2月21日，周六，圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 在奥斯汀穆迪中心对阵萨克拉门托国王队的比赛中走过球场。
底特律——维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 珍惜马刺队每一次与 NBA 顶尖强队交手并检验自身实力的机会。
“当然，能与最强的球队较量总是更有趣、也更有益，”这位两届全明星中锋表示，“这正是我们努力的目标。”
从这个意义上说，马刺队已经迎来了他们赛程中最引人注目的阶段之一。
在连续击败了几支因伤病减员的球队，并将连胜纪录扩大到赛季最高的八场之后——包括周六晚上在奥斯汀以 139-122 击败伤兵满营、陷入挣扎的萨克拉门托国王队——马刺队（40胜16负，排名西部第二）将面临一段由身体更健康、竞争更激烈的对手构成的漫长挑战。
“这是一个了解我们成色的机会，”前锋朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie) 说道。
从周一晚上对阵东部领头羊活塞队的比赛开始，马刺队将进入一段为期 12 场的赛程，其中只有一个对手（布鲁克林篮网）目前处于季后赛和附加赛争夺区之外。
底特律之战是连续五个东部客场之旅的开端，其中包括对阵东部第五的多伦多猛龙队、处于抽签区的篮网队、第三的纽约尼克斯队和第六的费城 76 人队。
在打完 76 人队后，马刺队将回到主场，迎来本赛季最长的连续六个主场比赛，对手包括活塞队、东部劲旅波士顿凯尔特人队（东部第二），以及西部竞争对手丹佛掘金队（西部第三）和休斯顿火箭队（西部第四）。这波主场赛程还包括对阵洛杉矶快船队（西部第九）和夏洛特黄蜂队（东部第十）。
这 12 场硬仗将以 3 月 16 日客场挑战快船队的比赛告终。
当被问及是否也认为未来三周是观察马刺队“成色”的机会时，主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 表示：“不完全是，但这确实是一个艰难的阶段。我很期待一些极具竞争力的比赛，这些球队会从各方面挑战我们。但我认为在目前这个阶段，在打完 56 场比赛后，我们只需要埋头苦干，日复一日地努力，并努力变得更加稳定。我们知道该把精力投向何处。”
马刺队在奥斯汀对阵太阳和国王的两场胜利，是他们在这波连胜中好运的缩影——这是自 2018-19 赛季末取得九连胜以来，球队的最长连胜纪录。太阳队在失去五届全明星德文·布克 (Devin Booker)（第二节因腿筋问题退赛）之前，已经缺少了受伤的迪伦·布鲁克斯 (Dillon Brooks) 和格雷森·艾伦 (Grayson Allen)。国王队（12胜46负）在周六遭遇了创队史纪录的 16 连败，而在连败的最后两场比赛前，多曼塔斯·萨博尼斯 (Domantas Sabonis)（膝盖）和扎克·拉文 (Zach LaVine)（后卫）都接受了赛季报销的手术。
自 2 月 1 日连胜开始以来，马刺队击败的其他球队——奥兰多魔术、俄克拉荷马城雷霆、达拉斯独行侠（两次）、洛杉矶湖人和金州勇士——无一例外都缺少关键球员。
尽管如此，马刺队在面对弱旅时没有掉以轻心，这一点值得赞扬，文班亚马也迅速指出了这一点。此外，马刺队在全明星赛后表现强劲，自 2022-23 赛季开始以来，首次在奥斯汀每年的两场系列赛中完成横扫。
“我们刚刚展现出了一个很好的迹象，因为我们以前在对阵胜率低于五成的球队时有些挣扎，”这位法国人说道，“所以那个阶段已经结束了，现在我们要进入下一个阶段，我们会一场接一场地去拼。”
但马刺队的重点，就像在名人堂教练格雷格·波波维奇执教时长期坚持的那样，是无论对手是谁，都要在每场比赛中持续进步。
“在季后赛开始前，我们只剩下不到 30 场‘实战演习’了……在我们为此做准备时，认真对待每一分钟至关重要，”前锋哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 说道。
2026年2月21日，周六，奥斯汀穆迪中心，萨克拉门托国王队前锋普雷舍斯·阿丘瓦 (Precious Achiuwa) 在圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 面前投篮。
文班亚马用防守奠定基调
文班亚马在周六的比赛伊始就展现出了约翰逊所说的“极具侵略性”的防守心态，在开场前 90 秒内就送出了 3 次盖帽。
强势的开局引发了这位 22 岁球员又一次填满数据栏的表现，他砍下 28 分和 15 个篮板，拿到了本赛季的第 26 次两双。在 30 分钟的出场时间里，他还有 6 次助攻、4 次盖帽和 1 次抢断。
文班亚马的 4 次封盖让他超越了比利·保尔茨 (Billy Paultz)，以 545 次盖帽升至队史盖帽榜第五位。排在他前面的分别是蒂姆·邓肯 (3,020 次)、大卫·罗宾逊 (2,954 次)、阿蒂斯·吉尔摩 (700 次) 和乔治·格文 (647 次)。
文班亚马在第三节最后一分钟命中一记三分，并助攻哈里森·巴恩斯外线得分，为马刺队在进入末节前取得了 11 分的领先优势。随后他在第四节 5 投 4 中得到 8 分，帮助球队将领先优势扩大到 25 分，并于全场比赛还剩 6 分 12 秒时打卡下场。
“我认为他在处理球和理解自己如何以及在何处能统治比赛方面，正开始变得更加沉稳，”约翰逊说道。
沃特斯接近回归
在对阵国王的赛前，林迪·沃特斯三世 (Lindy Waters III)（左膝过度伸展）的状态从出战成疑下调为缺阵，这是他连续缺席的第七场比赛。
“非常、非常接近了，”约翰逊在被问及沃特斯何时回归时表示，“我希望是下一场比赛。我不常这么说，但我认为他已经离回归不远了。”
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：Why this stretch of season is a measuring stick for Spurs
Why this stretch of season is a measuring stick for Spurs
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) walks the court during the game against the Sacramento Kings at the Moody Center on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026 in Austin.
DETROIT — Victor Wembanyama embraces any opportunity for the Spurs to test themselves against the NBA’s other top teams.
“Of course, it’s always interesting and better to play the best teams,” the two-time All-Star center said. “That’s what we work for.”
In that sense, the Spurs have arrived at one of the most intriguing stretches of their schedule.
After feasting on several teams depleted by injuries in forging a winning streak that stretched to a season-best eight games with Saturday night’s 139-122 win over banged-up, reeling Sacramento in Austin, the Spurs (40-16, second in the West) will face a long gauntlet of much healthier, tougher competition.
“It’s a chance to kind of find out what we’re made of,” forward Julian Champagnie said.
Beginning with Monday night’s outing against the East-leading Pistons, the Spurs face a 12-game stretch in which only one opponent (Brooklyn) is out of both the playoff and play-in races.
The Detroit game starts a five-game, East road trip that includes outings at fifth-seeded Toronto, the lottery-bound Nets, No. 3 New York and No. 6 Philadelphia.
The Spurs return home after playing the Sixers for a six-game homestand, the season’s longest, that includes the Pistons, second-seeded East power Boston and Western Conference contenders third-seeded Denver and No. 4 Houston. The homestand also includes games against the Los Angeles Clippers (No. 9 in the West) and Charlotte (10th in the East).
The 12-game stretch ends with a game at the Clippers on March 16.
Asked if he too views the next three weeks as a chance to see what the Spurs are “made of,” coach Mitch Johnson said, “No, but it is a tough stretch and looking forward to some really competitive games and teams that are going to challenge us in ways. But I think at this stage, 56 games in, we’re just going to keep our head down and keep working and take it day by day and just try to be more consistent. We know where we need to put our energy.”
The Spurs’ two wins in Austin over Phoenix and Sacramento were a microcosm of the good fortune they’ve experience during this winning streak, the longest for the franchise since it won nine straight late in the 2018-19 season. The Suns were already without the injured Dillon Brooks and Grayson Allen before they lost five-time All-Star Devin Booker in the second quarter to a hamstring issue. The Kings (12-46) dropped a franchise-record 16th straight game Saturday, with the last two games of the skid coming after Domantas Sabonis (knee) and Zach LaVine (guard) had season-ending surgeries.
The other teams the Spurs have beaten since the winning streak started Feb. 1 - Orlando, Oklahoma City, Dallas (twice), the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State — all were missing key pieces.
Still, the Spurs deserve credit for not suffering any letdowns, something Wembanyama was quick to point out, and for also coming out of the All-Star strong by sweeping its annual two-game set in Austin for the first time since it started in 2022-23.
“We just had a very good sign because we’ve struggled a bit against below-.500 teams,” the Frenchman said. “So this stretch is over and now on to the next thing, and we’re going to take it one game at a time.”
But the emphasis for the Spurs, just as it was for so long under Hall of Fame coach Gregg Popovich, is to continue to show improvement with each game — no matter the opponent.
“We have less than 30 dress rehearsals left before the playoffs … As we’re prepping for that, it’s important to take all of the minutes seriously,” forward Harrison Barnes said.
Sacramento Kings forward Precious Achiuwa (9) shoots the ball over San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) during the game at the Moody Center on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026 in Austin.
Wembanyama sets tone with defensive play.
Wembanyama began Saturday’s game in what Johnson called an “absolutely ferocious” defensive mindset, blocking three shots in the first 90 seconds of the game.
The dominating start sparked another stat sheet-stuffing performance for the 22-year-old in which he produced 28 points and 15 rebounds for his 26th double-double of the season. In 30 minutes, he also had six assists, four blocks and one steal.
Wembanyama’s four rejections moved him past Billy Paultz into fifth place on the franchise’s career blocks list with 545. He’s chasing Tim Duncan (3,020), David Robinson (2,954), Artis Gilmore (700) and George Gervin (647)).
Wembanyama sank a 3-pointer and assisted on bucket from beyond the arc by Harrison Barnes in the final minute of the third quarter to give the Spurs an 11-point cushion heading into the final frame. He went on to score eight points on 4-of-5 shooting in the fourth to help push the lead to 25 points before he excited his night was done with 6:12 left.
“I think he’s starting to slow down a little bit in terms of the processing and understanding where he can dominate and how,” Johnson said.
Waters nears return
The Spurs played their seventh straight game without Lindy Waters III (hyperextended left knee) after he was downgraded from questionable to out before the start of the game.
“Very, very close,” Johnson said when asked how close Waters is to returning. “I would hope next game. I don’t say that often, but I think he’s that close.”
By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News