By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-03-20 13:56:05
2026年3月19日，星期四，在圣安东尼奥弗罗斯特银行中心赢得比赛后，圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) (1) 对着麦克风呐喊。马刺队在最后一秒以101-100获胜。
周四，维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 尚处起步阶段的NBA职业生涯中最重要的一记跳投空心入网，这让弗罗斯特银行中心内的18,861名圣安东尼奥观众提前一个月开启了 Fiesta 狂欢派对。
现场爆发了震耳欲聋的欢呼声。尖叫声此起彼伏。美酒开始流淌。
好吧，算是吧。
“我投中了那一球，然后冲回半场防守，不小心撞到了一个人，”文班亚马在描述他在对阵菲尼克斯太阳队的比赛还剩1.1秒时投中跳投、终结了马刺队史最长季后赛荒后的瞬间时说道，“现在我的短裤上沾了红酒。”
这酒渍来自前排的一位球迷，在那狂喜的瞬间，他像这支球队的超级巨星一样欣喜若狂。
红葡萄酒还是白葡萄酒？
“是红葡萄酒，”文班亚马扯了扯他的银色短裤，露出两滴深红色的印记，“就在这儿，你们能看到。”
无论是赤霞珠还是黑皮诺，无论年份如何，这杯酒都与马刺队五年多来最重要的一场胜利完美契合。
这块污渍在文班亚马迄今为止的NBA征程中最重要的夜晚留下了不可磨灭的印记。
凭借101-100险胜太阳队，马刺队在数学计算上已正式锁定季后赛席位，这是他们七年来的第一次。
2026年3月19日，星期四，马刺队在圣安东尼奥弗罗斯特银行中心庆祝胜利。马刺队在最后一秒以101-100获胜。
凭借这场胜利，马刺队的战绩提升至52胜18负，确保了西区前六的排名。
马刺队领先排名第二的洛杉矶湖人队7个胜场，位置稳固，甚至有望获得更好的排名。
“看看我们去年的处境，再看看我们今年的目标，在还剩11场比赛时锁定季后赛感觉确实很棒，”后卫达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 说道，他正朝着职业生涯第二次季后赛之旅迈进，“现在我们准备好了，无论对手是谁，我们都拥有主场优势。”
从周六主场对阵陷入困境的印第安纳步行者队开始，马刺队将在接下来的三周内尝试在争取最佳种子顺位、保持球员活力与健康以及为首轮系列赛磨合状态之间寻找平衡。
对于这支球队，包括主教练在内，这都是一片令人欣喜的未知领域。
“我为这座城市、社区和整个组织感到高兴，”主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 说道，这是他执掌马刺教鞭的第一个完整赛季，“能成为这个过程的一部分是很有成就感的。”
在上赛季仅获得34胜，以及前一个赛季仅获得22胜之后，马刺队本赛季已经拿下了52场胜利，且数字还在增加。
在周四这场关乎季后赛席位的关键战中，文班亚马挺身而出照亮前路再合适不过了。
这位身高7英尺4英寸的法国人在2023年选秀中以状元秀身份加盟，是马刺队从垫底球队以超乎想象的速度转变为争冠球队的第一块多米诺骨牌。
文班亚马在周四的比赛中砍下34分，包括在奥索·伊戈达罗 (Oso Ighodaro) 头顶投中的那记17英尺准绝杀，这也是他职业生涯首次在最后5秒内投中制胜球。文班亚马还在全场比赛中贡献了12个篮板、3次抢断和1次盖帽。
“第一反应是感到自豪，”22岁的文班亚马谈到职业生涯首次进入季后赛时表示，“对我来说，关键是尽量不去在意，因为我们想要打好全部82场比赛。”
对于前锋凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 来说，作为马刺队阵中效力时间最长（七个赛季）的球员，重返季后赛并不总是显得那么理所当然。
“这一刻等了很久，”约翰逊说道。
在此之前，马刺队最近一次出现在季后赛还是在2019年，当时他们在首轮经过七场苦战，惜败于正处于上升期的丹佛掘金队。
两个月后，马刺队在选秀中以第29顺位选中了来自肯塔基大学的约翰逊。
一年后，在新冠疫情后的2019-20赛季重启后，马刺队终结了连续22年进入季后赛的联盟纪录。
几个月后，马刺队在首轮第11顺位选中了来自佛罗里达州立大学的德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell)。
约翰逊和瓦塞尔经历了马刺队史上最贫瘠的时期，在本赛季之前，作为队友的两人战绩仅为145胜255负，而现在他们终于熬出头了。
“这感觉很不真实，因为我经历了每一个阶段，”凯尔登·约翰逊说道，“我们没有跳过任何步骤才走到今天。这对我有特殊的意义……在经历了重重挫折后看到这样的结果，简直就像梦想成真。”
最终是文班亚马带领马刺队走出了荒野，周四的比赛就是这一过程的缩影。
马刺队在对阵太阳队的比赛中并没有发挥出最佳水平。在前三节比赛中，他们在拼抢、投篮和默契度上都落后于对手。
“缺乏精准度，”文班亚马评价道。
马刺队在下半场仅领先了44秒，在比赛还剩10.4秒的一次暂停前，他们再次落后1分。
球发到了文班亚马手中，他等待了9秒才发动进攻。最终，文班亚马向右运了一次球，在身高6英尺11英寸的伊戈达罗面前干拔跳投，投出了他自称已经练习了六年的那一球。
“在这种情况下，关键是不要把事情复杂化，”文班亚马说道，“我们知道这不会是一个空位投篮。这非常直接。”
文班亚马的跳投空心入网，弗罗斯特银行中心陷入疯狂。一秒钟后，德文·布克 (Devin Booker) 的半场远投偏出。
提前到来的 Fiesta 狂欢开始了。
在狂欢的某个时刻，凯尔登·约翰逊夺过场边的麦克风向依然疯狂的观众喊话。
“你们看得不尽兴吗？”约翰逊大声吼道。
文班亚马球裤上的红酒渍给出了答案。
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：How the Spurs are celebrating their first playoff berth in seven years
How the Spurs are celebrating their first playoff berth in seven years
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) yells into the microphone after a win at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Thursday, March 19, 2026. The Spurs won in the last second, 101-100.
The most important jump shot of Victor Wembanyama’s still fledgling NBA career found the bottom of the net Thursday, prompting 18,861 San Antonians inside the Frost Bank Center to start the Fiesta party a month early.
There were raucous cheers. There were celebratory screams. The wine began to flow.
Well, sort of.
“I make the shot, and sprint back on defense and kind of hit a guy,” Wembanyama said, describing the moments after his jumper with 1.1 seconds remaining against Phoenix ended the longest playoff drought in Spurs history. “I got wine on my shorts now.”
The spillage came courtesy of a fan in the front row who, in that instant of rapture, was just as giddy as his favorite team’s superstar player.
Red or white?
“It was red wine,” Wembanyama said, tugging at his silver shorts to reveal two crimson drops. “You can see it right here.”
Whether Cab or Pinot, no matter the vintage, the pour paired nicely with the Spurs’ most consequential victory in more than half a decade.
The stain left an indelible mark on what was the most significant night of Wembanyama’s NBA journey so far.
Thanks to a high-drama 101-100 victory over the Suns, the Spurs are officially and mathematically headed to the postseason for the first time in seven years.
The Spurs celebrate a win at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Thursday, March 19, 2026. The Spurs won in the last second, 101-100.
With it, the Spurs improved to 52-18, ensuring no worse than sixth place in the Western Conference.
Comfortably nestled seven games ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers for second place, the Spurs are in line for an even better finish that that.
“Where we were last year and what our goals were this year, clinching the playoffs with 11 games left definitely feels good,” said guard De’Aaron Fox, who is on track for the second postseason trip of his career. “Now we’re ready and have home court wherever we are.”
Beginning with Saturday’s home game against the moribund Indiana Pacers, the Spurs will spend the next three weeks attempting to strike a balance between pushing for the best seed possible, keeping players fresh and healthy and trying to stay sharpened for a first-round series.
It is welcome uncharted territory for this group, including the head coach.
“I am happy for the city and the community and the organization,” said coach Mitch Johnson, who is in his first full season at the Spurs’ helm. “To be a part of that process is rewarding.”
One season after winning 34 games and two seasons after winning only 22, the Spurs have rung up 52 and counting.
With the playoffs on the line Thursday, it was only fitting Wembanyama would light the way.
The 7-foot-4 Frenchman’s arrival as the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft was the first domino that transformed the Spurs from cellar dwellers to title contenders more quickly than anyone could have imagined.
Wembanyama finished Thursday with 34 points, including a go-ahead 17-footer over Oso Ighodaro that marked the first game-winning basket in the final five seconds of his career. Wembanyama added 12 rebounds, three steals and a block to a full night’s work.
“The first instinct is to be proud of it,” the 22-year-old Wembanyama said of his first career playoff berth. “The key for me is to try to not care because we want to attack (all) 82 games.”
For forward Keldon Johnson, at seven seasons the longest-tenured player on the Spurs’ roster, a return to the playoffs did not always feel so inevitable.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Johnson said.
Until now, the Spurs’ most recent postseason appearance came in 2019, when they lost a hard-fought seven-game series against an ascending Denver Nuggets squad in the first round.
Two months later, the Spurs drafted Johnson out of Kentucky with the 29th pick.
A year later, after the NBA resumed the 2019-20 campaign in the aftermath of the COVID-19 epidemic, the Spurs ended a league-record run of 22 straight playoff appearances.
A few months later, the Spurs drafted Devin Vassell out of Florida State with the 11th overall pick.
Johnson and Vassell have lived through the most fallow period in Spurs history, going 145-255 as teammates before this season, and have come out on the other side.
“It feels surreal because I’ve been through every step,” Keldon Johnson said. “We couldn’t skip no steps to get to where we’re at. It means something to me. … It’s almost like a dream come true to work through the mishaps and see the outcome of it.”
It was Wembanyama who ultimately brought the Spurs through the wilderness, and Thursday was a microcosm of that.
The Spurs did not play their best game against the Suns. For three quarters they were out-hustled, out-shot and out of sync.
“Lacking precision,” Wembanyama said.
The Spurs had led for only 44 seconds of the second half and were behind by a point again as they headed into a timeout with 10.4 ticks remaining.
The ball inbounded to Wembanyama, who waited nine seconds before making a move. Eventually, Wembanyama dribbled once to the right, pulled up over the 6-11 Ighodaro and unleashed a shot he says he had been practicing for the past six years.
“In these situations, the key is to not overcomplicate,” Wembanyama said. “We knew it was not going to be an open shot. It was pretty straightforward.”
Wembanyama’s jumper swished true, sending the Frost Bank Center into a frenzy. One second later, Devin Booker’s halfcourt heave fell harmlessly to the court.
A premature Fiesta was on.
At some point in the frivolity, Keldon Johnson seized a courtside microphone to address the still delirious crowd.
“Are you not entertained?” Johnson bellowed.
The wine spots on Wembanyama’s uniform shorts told the answer.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News