By William Guillory | The Athletic, 2026-03-09 09:00:58
圣安东尼奥 —— 周日晚上，当休斯顿火箭的首发球员最后一次走下球场时，马刺超级粉丝团（更广为人知的名字是“豺狼团” (The Jackals)）发出了震耳欲聋的欢呼，这一时刻显得再贴切不过了。
“德州是我们的！德州是我们的！”在圣安东尼奥过去 16 场比赛中取得第 15 场胜利的最后几秒，他们咆哮着。
每当德州球队之间展开对决，人们总是期待高水平的垃圾话和表演性。这正是这些宿敌之战的魅力所在。
但随着马刺在周日以 145-120 大胜休斯顿，这两支球队之间的差距多年来从未显得如此巨大。而情况本不该如此。
火箭上赛季高居西部第二。他们在休赛期完成了最大规模的引援，通过交易得到了凯文·杜兰特 (Kevin Durant)。火箭拥有一位经验丰富、作风硬朗的主教练，他深知如何带领球队闯入 NBA 总决赛。
进入本赛季之初，许多人认为卫冕冠军俄克拉荷马城雷霆在德州面临的最大威胁来自火箭。但当时恐怕很难找到任何人会想到，马刺竟然会这么快就成为 NBA 总冠军的有力竞争者。
尽管存在一些明显的缺陷，火箭在季后赛中仍将是一个难缠的对手。杜兰特在进攻端依然危险如初。休斯顿的防守也稳居联盟顶尖行列。而且，这支队伍从去年季后赛中积累的经验，在聚光灯亮起时应该会有所帮助。
然而，据主教练艾梅·乌度卡 (Ime Udoka) 所言，这支球队所缺乏的东西，并不仅仅是在常规赛的最后一个月才显现出来的。这些特质是大多数球队要么生来就有，要么就是没有。
“我们有天赋，这毫无疑问。但身份感、心态、韧性、斗志——这些就是目前所缺失的，”乌度卡在周日失利后表示，“我们会看看在赛季结束前能否找回这些东西。”
有几个理由可以将周日的惨败视为一个孤例，而非对火箭本赛季真实面貌的控诉。
休斯顿当时正处于四天内的第三场比赛，且首发阵容并不齐整，小贾巴里·史密斯 (Jabari Smith Jr.) 和阿门·汤普森 (Amen Thompson) 在过去一周左右的时间里一直在与脚踝伤势作斗争。虽然火箭确实让对手拿到了赛季新高的 145 分，但这很大程度上是因为圣安东尼奥投中了赛季新高的 21 记三分球，其中斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle)、迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 和凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 合计投中了 10 记。
然而，本赛季马刺在几乎每一次与火箭交手时，看起来都像是更出色的那一支。周日的失利是休斯顿在本赛季对阵圣安东尼奥的四场比赛中吃到的第三场败仗。在这三场失利中，火箭在下半场的得分以 160-203 落后。
当马刺全神贯注时，他们似乎对休斯顿的每一次反击都有应对之策。在本赛季对阵圣安东尼奥的四场比赛中，杜兰特没有一场得分达到 25 分。而且，面对这支马刺队，火箭无法依赖他们通过外线防守压力或禁区身材优势来压制对手的能力。
在周日输球后，火箭依然希望能在季后赛开始前解决问题——无论他们是否会再次遇到圣安东尼奥。但休斯顿反复证明了，他们还缺少一些东西，导致其无法晋升为顶级精英球队。而圣安东尼奥凭借全明星赛后不断积累的胜场，目前可能已经成为了那一梯队的代表。
“我们上赛季能排名西部第二就是因为这个。我们的身份就是一群硬汉，”火箭球星阿尔佩伦·申京 (Alperen Şengün) 表示，“本赛季我们丢掉了一些这种特质。我们骨子里还有，偶尔也会展现出来。我们必须找回它。季后赛快到了，我们会不断变得更好。”
维克托·文班亚马的存在是马刺本赛季超越火箭的原因之一。(Ronald Cortes / Getty Images)
圣安东尼奥本赛季的崛起，有些方面是可以预见的。
维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 跻身 NBA 顶级超级巨星行列只是时间问题。他在周日砍下 29 分、8 个篮板和 4 次盖帽，有时让火箭的球员在他面前看起来就像小弟弟一样。
德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 重新找回了全明星水准，他 20 分 10 助攻的表现是马刺取胜的关键。
但马刺本赛季卓越表现的其他部分，其发生的速度远超休斯顿任何人的预期。
虽然火箭对自己近期选中的两位后场前五顺位新秀（阿门·汤普森和里德·谢泼德 (Reed Sheppard)）的发展感到满意，但马刺也拥有两名近期选中的前五顺位后卫（卡斯尔和哈珀），而这两位看起来在提供击败顶级对手所需的身体对抗和位置多样性方面，准备得更加充分。
正如乌度卡在为火箭建立新文化方面发挥了重要作用一样，马刺教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson)（这仅仅是他担任主教练的第二个赛季）也反复做出了正确的决策，激发了这支年轻马刺队的最大潜力。
此外，关于申京近期的表现也一直是个谜。这位火箭全明星在周日仅得到 16 分和 6 个篮板，而像这样存在感稀薄的比赛对他来说已经变得司空见惯。
在过去的 28 场比赛中，申京场均得到 19.1 分、9.1 个篮板和 5.8 次助攻，投篮命中率为 49.5%。这些数据固然不错，但任何将休斯顿视为争冠球队的人，都对这位 23 岁的中枢寄予了更高的期望。
缺少弗雷德·范弗利特 (Fred VanVleet) 和斯蒂文·亚当斯 (Steven Adams) 的影响不容小觑。他们在场内外的老将领导力曾是这支球队身份感的重要组成部分。
但是，正如乌度卡所言，这组人马拥有成事的才华。火箭只是没有做好那些能让他们跨越难关的细节。
“感觉他们有四五个人能低下头不停地冲击篮筐。显然，文班亚马在防守端的无球端会给你制造麻烦，他们总能为他找到有利的对位，”当被问及是什么让马刺成为一个难对付的对手时，乌度卡说道，“当他们保持那样的高命中率时，确实很难防守。”
火箭还有一个多月的时间来重回正轨。这一场失利并不会终结他们的赛季。但仍有大量工作要做，而且时间已经所剩无几。
“今晚，我们创造了一些不错的出手机会，只是没能投进去。我认为我的重点是：了解他们将如何利用一些花哨的防守把比赛搞乱，同时也要让我们那些持球切入的球员保持冷静。这说起来容易做起来难，”杜兰特表示，“我们研究了一些东西，知道自己会做得更好。有些我们做得好的地方也可以继续发扬。我们必须坚持下去。季后赛还有一个多月，我们有时间继续变强。”
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：The Spurs are true contenders and the Rockets are not. It wasn't supposed to be this way
The Spurs are true contenders and the Rockets are not. It wasn’t supposed to be this way
SAN ANTONIO — As the Houston Rockets starters left the floor for the final time Sunday night, the raucous section of Spurs super fans, better known as “The Jackals,” let out a roaring chant that felt all too fitting for the moment.
“We own Texas! We own Texas!” they roared as the final seconds ticked away in San Antonio’s 15th win over its last 16 games.
Anytime there’s a matchup between the Texas teams, the trash talk and showmanship are always expected to be at a high level. It’s what makes these rivalries so fun.
But with the Spurs running away with a 145-120 win over Houston on Sunday, the gap between these teams hasn’t felt this large in years. And it wasn’t supposed to be this way.
The Rockets had the No. 2 seed in the West last season. The Rockets made the biggest acquisition of the offseason when they traded for Kevin Durant. The Rockets have the experienced, hard-nosed head coach who knows what it takes to lead a team to the NBA Finals.
Coming into this season, many believed the biggest threat to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder resided in Texas. But it would’ve been tough to find anyone who thought the Spurs would be the team making a legitimate bid to be NBA champions this soon.
Despite some of their glaring flaws, the Rockets are still going to be a tough out in the playoffs. Durant is as dangerous as ever on the offensive end. Houston’s defense remains among the best in the league. And this group’s experience from last year’s playoffs should help once the bright lights come on.
What this group lacks, however, according to head coach Ime Udoka, doesn’t just appear during the final month of the regular season. These are traits that most teams either have or don’t.
“We have talent, no doubt. It’s identity, mentality, toughness, dog — all that’s missing right now,” Udoka said after Sunday’s loss. “We’ll see if we get it back by the end of the season.”
There are several reasons Sunday’s blowout loss could be considered an outlier instead of an indictment of who the Rockets are this season.
Houston was playing its third game in four nights and had its starting lineup intact, as Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson have fought through ankle injuries over the past week or so. And while the Rockets did give up a season-high 145 points, it was largely because of San Antonio making a season-high 21 3-pointers, including 1o combined by Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper and Keldon Johnson.
The Spurs have looked like the superior team, however, just about every time they’ve matched up against the Rockets this season, with Sunday’s loss Houston’s third in four games against San Antonio. In those three losses, the Rockets have been outscored 203-160 in the second half.
When the Spurs lock in, they seem to have an answer for every Houston counterpunch. Durant hasn’t reached 25 points in any of his four matchups against San Antonio this season. And the Rockets cant rely on their ability to push around opponents with their defensive pressure on the perimeter or their size in the paint against this Spurs team.
After Sunday’s loss, the Rockets remained hopeful that they’ll be able to figure things out before the start of the playoffs — whether they have to see San Antonio again or not. But Houston has repeatedly shown that something is missing that’s preventing it from elevating into the elite echelon of teams. San Antonio, with all the wins it keeps racking up post-All-Star Game, may be the face of that group at this point.
“We were second in the West last season because of that. Our identity was being a dog,” Rockets star Alperen Şengün said. “We kind of lost some of that this season. We still have it. We do it sometimes. We’ve just got to get back on that. Playoff time is coming up. We’re just going to keep getting better and better.”
Victor Wembanyama’s presence is one reason the Spurs have surged ahead of the Rockets this season. (Ronald Cortes / Getty Images)
There have been certain aspects of San Antonio’s rise this season that were foreseeable.
It was only a matter of time before Victor Wembanyama ascended into the highest tier of NBA superstars. He had 29 points, eight rebounds and four blocks Sunday, at times making Houston’s players look like his little brothers.
De’Aaron Fox is back playing at an All-Star level, and his 20-point, 10-assist performance was a key for the Spurs.
But there are other parts of the Spurs’ greatness this season that happened much quicker than anyone in Houston could’ve anticipated.
While the Rockets are very happy about the development of their recent top-five picks in the backcourt (Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard), the Spurs have two recent top-five picks of their own at guard (Castle and Harper) who have looked better equipped to provide the physicality and positional versatility required to beat elite competition.
As important as Udoka has been in setting a new culture with the Rockets, Spurs coach Mitch Johnson, who is in only his second season as a head coach, has repeatedly pushed the right buttons to get the most out of this young Spurs team.
There’s also the ongoing mystery around Şengün’s play of late. The Rockets All-Star was held to 16 points and six rebounds Sunday, and it’s become all too common for him to have games like this, in which his impact is hardly felt.
Over his last 28 games, Şengün is averaging 19.1 points, 9.1 rebounds and 5.8 assists and shooting 49.5 percent from the field. Those are pretty good numbers, yet anyone who viewed Houston as a title contender expected more from the 23-year-old.
The impact of not having Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams around cannot be overstated. Their veteran leadership on and off the court have been a crucial part of this team’s identity.
But, as Udoka said, this group has the talent to get it done. The Rockets just aren’t doing all the little things that would get them over the hump.
“It seems like they’ve got four or five guys that put their heads down and (get) to the basket consistently. Obviously, Wembanyama gives you some problems off ball (defensively), getting certain matchups on him that’s favorable for them,” Udoka said when asked about what makes the Spurs a tough matchup. “When they’re shooting at that high clip, it’s going to be hard to guard.”
The Rockets still have a month to get it right. This one loss won’t be the end of the season for them. But there’s a lot of work to be done, and time is running out.
“Tonight, we generated some good looks. We just couldn’t knock them down. I think that’s my emphasis: knowing how they’re going to junk the game up with some of their gimmick defenses, but also getting our guys who penetrate under control. It’s easier said than done,” Durant said. “There are some things we looked at that we know we’ll be better at. There were some things we did well that we can build upon. We’ve just got to keep grinding it out. The playoffs are a month away. We’ve got time to just keep getting better.”
By William Guillory, via The Athletic