By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-03-09 15:12:23
2026年3月8日周日，在圣安东尼奥举行的一场NBA常规赛下半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马 (1) 在休斯顿火箭队前锋凯文·杜兰特 (7) 头上扣篮。(美联社照片/Eric Gay)
周日第三节过半，马刺队后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 在对手罚球期间走向场边，与主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 探讨下一次进攻回合。
闲来无事的火箭队后卫阿门·汤普森 (Amen Thompson) 晃悠过去，也想听听他们在说什么。
卡斯尔注意到了汤普森的偷听，但他并不介意。
“我走过去说完了我需要说的事，”卡斯尔耸耸肩说道，“对方是否知道我们要做什么，或者是否知道我们的战术，这真的不重要。我不觉得他们能防得住。”
你可以称之为自信，称之为范儿，或者称之为狂傲。
但在周日，这就是事实。
随着维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 领衔马刺四人得分上双（且均达到20+），马刺以145-120 狂胜火箭。而在赛前，火箭本是马刺争夺西部第二位置最直接的竞争对手。
在此过程中，马刺的强势表现印证了一个观点：他们曾经被认为属于“下个赛季”的夺冠窗口，或许现在就已经开启了。
“我们都开始意识到自己有多么优秀了，”新秀后卫迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 说道，“以及我们可以把比赛变得多么简单。”
这支年轻的马刺正开始相信属于他们的时代就是当下，而非未来。对于联盟其他球队来说，这或许才是最可怕的地方。
周日，马刺为这一假设提供了又一证据：面对由伊梅·乌度卡 (Ime Udoka) 执教、以强硬铁血防守立身的休斯顿火箭，马刺打出了可以说是本赛季至今最好的进攻表现。
马刺全场送出的38次助攻创赛季新高。58%的投篮命中率是自赛季第四场对阵多伦多以来的最高值。而52.5%的三分命中率（40投21中）同样刷新了赛季纪录。
至于火箭丢掉的140多分？你猜对了，也是他们的赛季新高。
休斯顿采取了屡试不爽的策略：通过强硬的对抗来压迫马刺，试图通过身体碰撞打乱他们的节奏。
但这一招失效了。
“论技术含量，其他球队无法通过对攻击败我们，所以他们试图威慑我们，或者对我们采取过度的身体对抗，”卡斯尔说，“我们有很多球员能够迎接这种挑战。一旦我们回应了这种挑衅，对手就真的无计可施了。”
这场胜利让马刺在连续六个主场的赛程中取得了3比0的开局。这段赛程的对手含金量极高，旨在测试马刺是否已经为季后赛做好了准备。
下一个挑战将在周二到访霜银中心 (Frost Bank Center)，对手是目前东部状态最火热的波士顿凯尔特人，他们在过去16场比赛中赢下了13场。
2026年3月8日周日，在圣安东尼奥对阵休斯顿火箭队的下半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马 (1) 与队友朱利安·尚帕尼 (30) 庆祝得分。(美联社照片/Eric Gay)
在本赛季的前五个月里，凯尔特人在杰森·塔图姆 (Jayson Tatum) 缺阵的情况下依然稳居东部第二。上周，这位全明星前锋从跟腱伤势中康复回归。
马刺中锋卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet) 曾于2024年随凯尔特人夺得NBA总冠军。他表示，圣安东尼奥的这段征程让他想起了那个冠军赛季的前一年——当时那支波士顿球队也正开始意识到一切皆有可能。
“22赛季，我们从1月开始进入状态，打出了高水平的篮球，”科内特说，“能成为这支球队的一员感觉很酷，尤其是看到我们成长得如此迅速，而且我们还如此年轻。”
自2月1日以来，全联盟表现比波士顿更好的球队只有马刺，在此期间马刺取得了15胜1负的骄人战绩。
进入周二，他们在负场数上领先明尼苏达森林狼和休斯顿火箭7场，稳居西部第二，并持续对卫冕冠军俄克拉荷马城雷霆的榜首位置施压。
到下周此时，马刺很有可能锁定自2016-17赛季以来的首个50胜赛季。
在连续六个赛季无缘季后赛后，马刺本不该这么快就达到如此高度。但现在是时候接受这个事实了：也许他们就是这么强。
目前，马刺并不在乎联盟其他球队是否相信自己的眼睛。
“我们了解那些舆论，”主教练约翰逊说道。他在执教马刺的第一个完整赛季取得了47胜17负的战绩，“我们不会逃避任何事，也不会受其左右。”
“人们对我们感到兴奋的原因非常合乎逻辑，”约翰逊补充道，“人们心存顾虑的原因也同样有其道理。但这都不会动摇我们。”
在经历了像周日这样的夜晚后——每一次额外的传球、每一次令人窒息的防守、纳斯卡赛车般的全场奔袭快攻，以及文班亚马那些让人惊掉下巴的扣篮——人们已经很难不将马刺视为货真价实的夺冠大热门。
无论火箭尝试什么，马刺总能给出回应。
文班亚马最终砍下29分并送出4次盖帽。达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 贡献20分10次助攻。卡斯尔拿下23分。凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 替补出场贡献20分。哈珀得到19分。
周日下半场的某个阶段，马刺连续15次执行了同样的战术，并且在不同的回合中由多名球员完成终结。
“所有的表现都是有意为之，无论是传球还是战术跑位，”哈珀说，“正是这些细节成就了现在的我们。”
火箭知道马刺要干什么。马刺简直就像是把战术手册空投给了他们。
但最终的比分证明了，休斯顿根本无力阻止。
随着季后赛临近，祝全联盟其他球队好运。
“在过去的15到20场比赛中，我们在每一场比赛里都打得非常游刃有余，并给了自己赢球的机会，”卡斯尔说，“我们在迎接每一场比赛时都充满信心。”
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 beginning to believe in themselves, and that's scary
The Spurs are beginning to believe in themselves, and that’s scary
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) dunks over Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
Midway through the third quarter Sunday, Spurs guard Stephon Castle headed to the sideline during an opponent’s free throw attempt to talk over the next offensive possession with coach Mitch Johnson.
With nothing better to do, Houston guard Amen Thompson wandered over to join the conversation.
Thompson’s eavesdropping did not go unnoticed by Castle. It wasn’t exactly unwelcome, either.
“I went over there and talked to what I needed to talk about,” Castle said with a shrug. “It doesn’t really matter if the other team knows what we’re about to do or if they know our play. I don’t think they were going to stop it.”
Call it confidence. Call it swagger. Call it arrogance.
Sunday, it was the truth.
With Victor Wembanyama heading a list of four Spurs players with at least 20 points, the Spurs rolled to a 145-120 rout over a Rockets team that coming into the night represented their closest competition for the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference.
In the process, the Spurs did little to dampen the notion that perhaps their title window — once thought to be a “next season” type of notion — might be open now.
“We’re all starting to get how good we are,” rookie guard Dylan Harper said. “And how simple we can make the game for ourselves.”
These young Spurs are beginning to believe their time is now, and not later. That could be the scariest part for the rest of the league.
The Spurs added another data point to that hypothesis Sunday, turning in arguably their best offensive game of the season against an Ime Udoka-coached Houston team that lives and dies by its dirty-work defense.
The Spurs’ 38 assists were a season high. Their 58% shooting clip was their highest since the fourth game of the season against Toronto. The 52.5% the Spurs shot from 3-point range (21 of 40) was also a season high.
The 140 points the Rockets surrendered? You guessed it, a season high.
Houston employed a well-worn strategy of pushing the Spurs around and trying to bump them off their game.
It did not work.
“Teams can’t really beat us going up and down with skill, so they try and punk us or try to be over-physical with us,” Castle said. “We have a lot of guys who can step up to that challenge. Once we’ve answered that call, teams don’t really have an answer.”
The victory improved the Spurs to 3-0 to open a six-game homestand featuring the type of competition meant to test their readiness for a playoff run.
The next challenge comes Tuesday at the Frost Bank Center against a Boston team that rates as the hottest in the Eastern Conference, winning 13 of its past 16.
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) celebrates a score with teammate Julian Champagnie (30) during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Houston Rockets in San Antonio, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
For the first five months of the season, the Celtics held their own in second place of the Eastern Conference without Jayson Tatum then welcomed the All-Star forward back from an Achilles tendon injury last week.
Spurs center Luke Kornet won an NBA championship with the Celtics in 2024. He said this run in San Antonio is beginning to give him flashbacks to the season before that, when that Boston team first began to realize what was possible.
“The (20)22 season we went on a roll from January on and were playing a high level of basketball,” Kornet said. “It’s been a cool thing to be a part of this, especially because of how much we are growing and how young we are.”
Since Feb. 1, the only team better than Boston are the Spurs, who are 15-1 in that span.
They enter Tuesday seven games in the loss column ahead of Minnesota and Houston for the No. 2 seed in the West, while keeping pressure on defending champion Oklahoma City for the top spot.
By this time next week, it is likely Spurs could have secured their first 50-win season since 2016-17.
After missing the playoffs for six seasons in a row, the Spurs were not supposed to be this good this fast. But it is time to consider the idea that maybe they are.
For now, the Spurs do not care if the NBA world believes its eyes or not.
“We understand the narratives,” said Mitch Johnson, who is 47-17 in his first full season as the Spurs’ coach. “We’re not going to avoid anything and we’re not going to give power to it.”
“The reasoning for why people get excited about us is very logical,” Johnson added. “The reasoning for people to have concerns has some logic behind it. It has not moved us.”
After nights like Sunday, with every extra pass and every suffocating defensive possession and NASCAR-speed coast-to-coast fast /break and how-did-he-do-that? dunk from Wembanyama, it becomes difficult to view the Spurs as anything less than a bona fide championship contender.
No matter what the Rockets tried, the Spurs had an answer.
Wembanyama ended with 29 points and four blocks. De’Aaron Fox had 20 points and 10 assists. Stephon Castle scored 23 points. Keldon Johnson added 20 off the bench. Harper had 19.
At one point in the second half Sunday, the Spurs ran the same play 15 times in a row, getting shots from a multitude of players on different possessions.
“Everything is intentional, whether that’s the passes we make or the plays that we run,” Harper said. "Little things like that make us who we are.”
The Rockets knew what was coming. The Spurs might as well have air-dropped them the playbook.
As the final scoreboard could attest, Houston could not do much to stop it.
As the playoffs approach, good luck to the rest of the league.
“Over the last 15, 20 games we’ve been super comfortable in every single game and given ourselves a chance to win,” Castle said. “We have nothing but confidence coming into every single game.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News
