By Charlie Thaddeus | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2026-03-11 16:30:00
这场比赛从一开始氛围就不太对劲。感觉铺垫得太足了，势头过盛，以至于注定会出点岔子。
“两支争冠热门正面对决！”
“潜在的总决赛预演！”
“杰森·塔图姆 (Jayson Tatum) 延续其不可思议的回归表现！”
“维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 发起 MVP 冲击！”
“联盟最火热的两支球队齐聚NBC Coast-to-Coast 周二直播专场！”
然后，今天早上大家都在聊什么？没错。巴姆·阿德巴约 (Bam Adebayo) 在奇才头上砍下了 83 分。行吧！
并不是说马刺对阵凯尔特人的比赛不好看。一旦一切尘埃落定进入节奏，其实相当精彩。只是感觉……有点怪。就像看到两个舞伴决定不了谁该领舞，步点总是差那么一点。
我看球的时候整个人都很焦虑。我更关心这一切看起来如何，有什么意义，而不是场上实际发生了什么。就好像我能感觉到那些特定死忠粉“信任圈”之外的目光现在正盯着马刺，试图看清他们到底是怎么回事。试图寻找计划中的漏洞。试图泼冷水。
每次我们投丢球或失误，我都在轻微恐慌和尴尬之间反复横跳。小伙子们，你们怎么能让我这么丢脸？家里来客人了！我才刚打扫完屋子！请不要在迈克·提里科 (Mike Tirico) 面前投丢底角三分了。
在你开始反驳我之前，请相信我：我知道自己很荒谬。这种看球方式一点也不酷，也不自在。干什么事都不该这样。
马刺正处于近十年来最有趣的篮球阶段之一。这支球队周遭的氛围基本完美。球在飞速流转。文班亚马正以某种方式超越预期。年轻人正在实时成长。如果你在十月份坐下来，试图描绘出你现在希望球队拥有的那种情绪状态，那大概就是现在的样子。
然而，我整晚都坐在沙发上汗流浃背、紧张兮兮。当杰伦·布朗 (Jaylen Brown) 被驱逐时，我很生气，因为如果马刺在主场输给一支残阵凯尔特人，舆论风向会变得很糟糕。半场打平时我很沮丧。我们出手了那么多三分球也让我感到烦躁。
那些三分球投进了，但我还是很烦。这到底是怎么回事，伙计们？
我的意思是，马刺赢了这场比赛。大胜！赢了一支非常优秀的球队！而我却坐在这里倾诉我全程有多煎熬。真蠢！
但我也怀疑自己并不孤单。就像体育运动中的大多数事情一样，它触及了人类本性中更深层的东西。当你终于得到了苦苦哀求的东西，却立刻开始怀疑它哪里出了问题，这种奇怪的感觉，任何经历过风浪的人都会觉得熟悉。有一天你环顾四周，发现自己住在一座漂亮的房子里，有一位漂亮的妻子，你可能会问自己：嗯……我是怎么来到这里的？
一如既往。
这太容易掉进陷阱了。你花了整个高中努力想考上大学，然后你做到了。接下来呢？你花了整个大学时间担心找工作，然后你找到了。接下来呢？你训练了好几个月准备马拉松，然后你冲过了终点线。接下来呢？
我觉得我们可能就是不擅长享受当下。规划、追逐、猎取……这些才是驱动我们的东西。这才是赋予一切意义的东西。真正守着现有的东西坐下来，感觉很奇怪。甚至感觉有点懒散。就像如果我们要停止划水哪怕一秒钟，我们就会沉下去。
这看起来不太健康。
我觉得马刺队员们并不会陷入这种心态，尽管写这篇文章的家伙显然陷进去了。这支球队目前非常可爱的一点是，他们看起来确实活在当下。他们保持自我，专注于眼前的每一场比赛，并泰然处之。他们在场上享受快乐。
你看赛后，他们所有人都在怂恿梅森·普拉姆利 (Mason Plumlee) 去做那个敲鼓的动作，突然间，其他一切都显得有点傻。所有的压力。所有的焦虑。我脑子里整晚都在担心的那些小小的叙事陷阱。
那些只是噪音。大多是自找的。
与此同时，马刺上场并击败了凯尔特人。看起来他们也玩得很开心。
我也应该尝试一下。
要点记录
- 我不顾理智常做的一件事，就是听蒂姆·邦坦普斯 (Tim Bontemps) 在《The Hoop Collective》节目中为文班亚马的投篮分布忧心忡忡。他有一套理论，非常反对文班出手大量三分。在邦坦普斯的理想世界中，文班亚马应该在篮下终结，在禁区安家，总之应该多吃一些高命中率的“甜点位”，而不是在三分线外开炮。他发这些牢骚时我感到很烦，很大程度上是因为……我居然有点同意他的观点。部分原因是我脑子里还是无法完全接受一个那么高的人像后卫一样打球；另一部分则是一种简单的本能，每当我看到他在三分线外游荡，内心就会呐喊：*兄弟，你身高 7 英尺 4 英寸，去扣篮啊，伙计。*请相信，我一点也不喜欢在这件事上站在邦坦普斯这一边。
- 昨晚对于我们这些“也许少投点三分？”派系的人来说是一个奇特的测试案例。在文班的 20 次出手尝试中，有 15 次来自三分线外。15 次！这几乎就是邦坦普斯一直在抱怨的那种投篮分布。好消息是他投进了其中的 8 个。问题也在于他投进了 8 个。我该拿这怎么办？当他像那样下起三分雨时，确实帅呆了，但我总有一种我们在“不当获利”的感觉。就好像篮球之神正悄悄注视着这一切，并为以后记了一笔。因为毫无疑问，季后赛肯定会有球队非常乐意让他从外面出手，并承担由此产生的后果。
- 总的来说，我觉得文班昨晚的表现并不像是整晚都在为了投三分而“躲着打”或“将就”。很多出手都是在进攻流转中产生的。接球投篮的机会、挡拆外切的配合，诸如此类。凯尔特人显然想把他拒在禁区之外，而马刺非常乐意让他拉到外面去惩罚这种选择。他也多次站上罚球线，所以他并不是在有机会攻击篮筐时对此过敏。我不知道，听着，这些都是“幸福的烦恼”。也许我该停止操心了，怎么样？
- 德亚伦·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 竟然在默默地掌舵整个局面。他简直太适合马刺的需求了，不是吗？他似乎并不渴求聚光灯。必要时他可以砍分，但他同样乐于组织进攻，让整台机器平稳运转。他沉稳老练，极少犯错，并且不断填补球场各处的漏洞。老实说，对于这一切进展得如此顺滑，我感到有些目瞪口呆。想想过去几年里，为了不荒废文班的潜力，人们提出的马刺必须引进的成百上千个搭档人选。而最后，那个像手套一样贴合的人竟然是福克斯。真是有趣。
- 我不知道是不是仅仅因为他是左撇子，但福克斯的一些三分球出手角度看起来几乎就像他在把一颗曲球旋进篮筐。球飞向篮圈，然后像鞭子一样甩进去。这太神奇了，每次都让我心头一跳。
- 关于杰伦·布朗被驱逐，我唯一想说的是：
凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 的动作和驱逐杰伦·布朗的裁判简直同步率 100%，笑死我了
— Hater Report (@ HaterReport) 2026 年 3 月 11 日
WWL 赛后新闻发布会
– 你写文章的时候被驱逐过吗？
– 哦当然，我经常被罚下。
– 等等，真的吗？比如你领了两次技术犯规，然后必须停止写作？
– 当然。发生的次数比你想象的要多。当我正要表达一个极其精彩的观点时，某个裁判就会冲进我的办公室，吹着哨子大喊：“被动语态！”我当然不能就这么算了，所以我会直冲到他面前说：“你觉得那是被动语态？那个？你是认真的吗？那是我说过的话里最不被动的一句！如果你想要被动的，我给你演示演示什么叫被动！”
– 好吧。那……有帮助吗？
– 几乎从来没用，裁判讨厌你那样直冲到他们面前。
– 通常需要有人把你拉开吗？
– 是的，PTR 在板凳席有安保团队。有时 Marilyn 必须介入，平息事态，让我去休息一下，然后她来完成我的……咳咳……讨论。这都是比赛的一部分。
– 那你被罚下后会发生什么？有人会替你写完专栏吗？
– 会的，我们会从板凳席换人上来。通常衔接得很丝滑。但如果你读到我写的某些东西，觉得“这水平不太行啊”，你大概可以推断是有偏见的裁判带着预谋提前把我送进更衣室了。
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：What We Learned from the Spurs win over the Celtics
What We Learned from the Spurs win over the Celtics
The vibe was off from the start in this one. It almost felt like there had been too much buildup for it. Too much momentum for it not to go a little sideways.
“Two title contenders squaring off!”
“Possible Finals preview!”
“Jayson Tatum continuing his incredible return!”
“Wembanyama making an MVP push!”
“The two hottest teams in the league on NBC Coast-to-Coast Tuesday!”
And then, of course, what are we all talking about this morning? That’s right. Bam Adebayo dropping 83 on the Wizards. Sure!
It’s not that Spurs vs. Celtics was a bad game. It was actually pretty entertaining once everything settled in. It just felt… off. Like watching two dance partners who couldn’t quite decide who was leading. Everything just a little bit out of step.
I was antsy the whole time watching this. More concerned with how everything looked and what it meant than what was actually happening on the court. It’s like I can feel the eyes of people outside our specific fan Circle of Trust now trained on the Spurs, trying to figure out what the deal is. Trying to poke holes in the plan. Trying to take the air out of it.
Every time we missed a shot or turned the ball over I kept alternating between a feeling somewhere between slight panic and mortification. Boys, how could you embarrass me like this? We have company! I just cleaned in here! Please stop missing corner threes in front of Mike Tirico.
And before you start with me, just trust me: I understand that I’m being ridiculous. This is not a cool or groovy way to watch sports. It’s not a cool or groovy way to do anything.
The Spurs are in the middle of one of the most fun stretches of basketball we’ve seen in almost a decade. The vibes around this team are basically perfect. The ball is flying around. Victor Wembanyama is somehow exceeding expectations. The young guys are growing up in real time. If you sat down in October and tried to draw up the exact emotional temperature you’d want around the team right now, it would look almost exactly like this.
And yet there I was the whole night, sitting on the couch sweaty and nervous. I was mad when Jaylen Brown got ejected because of what it might mean for the narrative if they lost to a shorthanded Celtics team at home. I was frustrated we were tied at the half. I was annoyed at how many threes we were taking.
The threes were going in and I was annoyed about it. What even is that, you guys?
I mean, the Spurs won this game. By a lot! Against a really good team! And I’m sitting here spilling my guts about how miserable I was the whole time. Stupid!
But I also have a suspicion I’m not alone in this. Like most things in sports, it taps into something a little deeper in the human condition. That strange feeling of finally getting the thing you’ve been begging for and immediately wondering what’s wrong with it is familiar to anyone who’s been around the block a few times. One day you look around and realize you’re standing in a beautiful house with a beautiful wife and you may ask yourself, well… how did I get here?
Same as it ever was.
It’s just such an easy trap to fall into. You spend all of high school trying to get into college and then you’re there. Now what? You spend all of college worrying about trying to get a job and then you get one. Now what? You spend months training for a marathon and then you cross the finish line. Now what?
I think we might just be bad at enjoying things in the moment. The planning, the chase, the hunt… that’s what drives us. That’s what gives the whole thing meaning. Actually sitting there with what we’ve got feels strange. Lazy, almost. Like if we stop swimming for even a second we might sink.
It doesn’t seem particularly healthy.
I don’t think the Spurs are guilty of it, even if the guy writing this clearly is. A very lovable, if not relatable, thing about this team right now is that they really do seem to be living in the moment. They’re staying within themselves. They’re focused on each game as it comes and taking it in stride. They’re having fun out there.
You watch them after the game, all of them peer-pressuring Mason Plumlee into doing the drum thing, and suddenly everything else feels kind of silly. All the stress. All the anxiety. All the little narrative traps my brain spent the night worrying about.
It’s just noise. Mostly self-generated.
The Spurs, meanwhile, just went out and beat the Celtics. Seemed like they had fun, too.
Probably should give that a try.
Takeaways
- A thing I do against my better judgment is listen to Tim Bontemps on The Hoop Collective wring his hands about Victor Wembanyama’s shot profile. He has this whole thing where he’s very against the idea of Vic taking a high volume of threes. In Bontemps’ ideal world, Wembanyama is finishing at the rim, living in the paint, and generally filling his diet with higher-percentage looks instead of bombing away from the perimeter. I get annoyed when he goes on these rants largely because… I kind of agree with him. Part of it is that my brain still can’t fully wrap itself around the concept of someone that tall playing like a guard. And part of it is just a very simple instinct that kicks in whenever I watch him float around the three-point line: yo man, you’re seven-foot-four. Go dunk it, brother. Please trust that I do not enjoy agreeing with Tim Bontemps on this.
- Last night was a weird test case for those of us in the “maybe fewer threes?” camp. Of Wembanyama’s twenty shot attempts, fifteen of them were from beyond the arc. Fifteen! That’s almost the exact shot profile Bontemps is so annoying about. The good news is that he made eight of them. The problem is that he made eight of them. What am I supposed to do with that? It’s undeniably cool when he’s raining threes like that, but I also can’t quite shake the feeling that we’re getting away with something. Like the basketball gods are quietly watching this happen and making a note for later. Because without a doubt, there are going to be playoff teams that are perfectly happy to let him launch from out there and live with the consequences.
- I think, overall, Vic’s game last night didn’t really feel like it was built on him just “falling back” or “settling” for threes all night. A lot of those looks came within the flow of the offense. Catch-and-shoot opportunities, pick-and-pop actions, that sort of thing. The Celtics were clearly trying to keep him out of the paint, and the Spurs were more than happy to let him drift out and punish that choice. He also got to the line a bunch, so it’s not like he was allergic to attacking the basket when the opportunity was there. I don’t know. Look, these are good problems to have. Maybe I should stop worrying about it. How about that?
- De’Aaron Fox is, somehow, quietly just out here steering this whole operation along. He’s kind of perfect for what the Spurs need, isn’t he? He doesn’t seem to want or need the spotlight. He can pour it in when necessary, but he’s just as comfortable orchestrating things and keeping the whole machine running smoothly. He’s poised, he doesn’t make many mistakes, and he’s constantly plugging little holes all over the floor. I’m honestly a little flabbergasted at how cleanly this has worked out. Think about all the hundreds of names that were floated over the last couple of years for players the Spurs absolutely had to pair with Wembanyama in order to not squander his potential. And somehow the guy who fits like a glove is De’Aaron Fox. Fancy that.
- I don’t know if it’s just because he’s left handed, but there’s an angle on some of Fox’s three point shots that almost looks like he’s spinning a curveball into the basket. The thing gets to the rim and just like whips down. It’s bizarre and kind of gives me a little jump every time.
- The only thing I have to say about Jaylen Brown’s ejection is:
Keldon Johnson was PERFECTLY IN SYNC with the official who ejected Jaylen Brown lmaooo
— Hater Report (@ HaterReport) March 11, 2026
WWL Post Game Press Conference
– Have you ever been ejected from something you were writing?
– Oh sure, I get tossed all the time?
– Wait, really? Like you got two technicals and had to stop writing?
– For sure. Happens more than you’d think. I’ll be in the middle of making a truly excellent point and some ref will come barging into my office blowing his whistle and shouting something like, “PASSIVE VOICE!” And of course I can’t just let that slide, so I get right in his face and say, “You think THAT was passive voice? That? Are you serious? THAT’S THE LEAST PASSIVE THING I’VE EVER SAID! IF YOU WANT PASSIVE, I’LL GIVE YOU PASSIVE.”
– Ok. And that…helps?
– Almost never, the refs hate when you get in their face like that.
– Does someone usually have to hold you back?
– Yeah, PTR has security teams on the bench that come out. Sometimes Marilyn has to step in, calm things down, tell me to go take a breather, and then she finishes my… ahem… discussion. It’s all part of the game.
– What happens when you get tossed though? Does someone else finish the column?
-Yeah, we’ll bring someone off the bench. Usually it’s pretty seamless. But if you’ve ever been reading something I wrote and thought, “not his best work,” you can probably assume a biased ref with an agenda sent me to the locker room early.
By Charlie Thaddeus, via Pounding The Rock