By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-04-04 19:24:39
圣安东尼奥马刺队中锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)（左）在周六（2026年4月4日）于丹佛进行的一场NBA常规赛加时赛中投篮时，被丹佛掘金队中锋尼古拉·约基奇 (Nikola Jokic) 撞到后向后仰去。(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
丹佛——马刺本周抵达丹佛，希望在11连胜期间寻求一种此前很大程度上失之交臂的季后赛级别热身。
掘金很乐意效劳。
尼古拉·约基奇 (Nikola Jokic) 砍下40分和13次助攻，带领丹佛掘金在波尔球馆以136-134逆转取胜。
这场比赛被视为西部季后赛次轮的潜在预演，两位MVP候选人约基奇和马刺的维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 展开了针锋相对的较量。掘金在一度落后13分的情况下完成逆转，豪取八连胜。
文班亚马也展现出了顶级水准，全场贡献34分、18个篮板和5次盖帽。
丹佛方面，克里斯蒂安·布劳恩 (Christian Braun) 得到21分，贾马尔·穆雷 (Jamal Murray) 高效贡献15分和10次助攻。
尽管斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 得到20分和9次助攻，朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie) 和德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 各得18分，但马刺本赛季最长的连胜纪录还是宣告终结。
这场失利在数学计算上几乎锁定了马刺西部第二的位置，已无法追赶俄克拉荷马城雷霆。
而掘金凭借这场赛季第50胜，将与排名第三但饱受伤病困扰的洛杉矶湖人之间的差距缩小到了半个胜场。
如果掘金能够超越湖人，他们极有可能在季后赛次轮与马刺狭路相逢。
两队在常规赛还将交手一次，即4月12日在弗罗斯特银行中心的收官战。
以下是周六失利后的三大启示，这场失利也让马刺错失了本赛季首次冲击60胜的机会：
1. 这可能是五月份不容错过的对决
周六是文班亚马和约基奇本赛季首次同台竞技。
随之而来的博弈就像是加里·卡斯帕罗夫 (Garry Kasparov) 对阵鲍比·菲舍尔 (Bobby Fischer) 的顶级棋局。
约基奇总能找到办法在文班亚马头顶完成勾手；而文班亚马则会迅速调整，在下一次防守中送出盖帽。约基奇给出回应，文班亚马则见招拆招。
最终，约基奇完成了“将军”。在加时赛还剩一分钟时，他顶着文班亚马投进了一记高难度的“索姆博尔洗牌 (Sombor Shuffle)”后仰跳投，帮助丹佛以133-129领先。
只要这两位全明星中锋同时在场，比赛就会变得极具观赏性。
如果五月份在圣安东尼奥和丹佛地区上演这样一轮七场系列赛，恐怕会让不少球迷心跳加速。
2. 马刺在季后赛需要更出色的福克斯
尽管得分数据有所下滑，德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 本赛季的表现已经超出了马刺的所有预期。
然而，周六并不是他本赛季表现最好的一场。
福克斯全场19投7中仅得14分，并出现了两次失误。
作为NBA中最著名的关键球员之一，福克斯在比赛末段也出现了两次致命的进攻失误。
一次发生在马刺领先两分、进攻时间仅剩8秒时，福克斯未能找到突破空间，一度丢球，最后被迫在进攻时间结束前强投一记受干扰的三分，结果投出了三不沾。
随后在加时赛中，马刺在一次二打一的快攻中本有机会扳平比分，但福克斯与瓦塞尔的空接配合失误。虽然福克斯抢回了篮板，但随后的空位短距离跳投也未能命中。
约基奇紧接着抛投命中，在比赛还剩9.8秒时将丹佛的领先优势扩大到4分。
福克斯本赛季对马刺贡献良多，但在季后赛中，他需要做得更好。
丹佛掘金队前锋阿隆·戈登 (Aaron Gordon)（右）在周六于丹佛进行的NBA常规赛上半场与圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie) 争抢地板球。(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
3. 马刺诞生新任三分王
尚帕尼在进入本场比赛前，距离打破马刺单赛季三分球纪录还差6个。
他虽然打到了加时赛，但最终成功破纪录。
常规时间内他在三分线外7投5中，加时赛中，尚帕尼接球后果断出手命中，投进了本赛季第192个三分球。
这让他超越了丹尼·格林 (Danny Green)（2014-15赛季命中191个），登顶马刺队史单赛季三分榜。
尚帕尼打破纪录的时机也非常有趣。
周一，他将以马刺新晋三分王的身份对阵费城76人——正是这支球队在2022年2月裁掉了他，从而为他加盟圣安东尼奥铺平了道路。
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：3 takeaways as Wemby-led Spurs fall to Jokic's Nuggets in OT thriller
3 takeaways as Wemby-led Spurs fall to Jokic’s Nuggets in OT thriller
San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama, left, reels back after getting hit by Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic as he went up for a shot in overtime of an NBA basketball game Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
DENVER — The Spurs arrived in Denver this week hoping for the type of playoff tune-up that had largely eluded them during an 11-game winning streak.
The Nuggets were glad to oblige.
Nikola Jokic had 40 points and 13 assists as Denver rallied for a 136-134 overtime victory at Ball Arena.
In a game that served as a possible preview of the second round of the Western Conference playoffs, with a pair of MVP candidates in Jokic and the Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama going toe-to-toe, the Nuggets overcame a 13-point deficit to win their eighth game in a row.
Wembanyama held up his end of the bargain with 34 points, 18 rebounds and five blocked shots.
Denver got 21 points from Christian Braun and an efficient 15 points and 10 assists from Jamal Murray.
The Spurs saw their season’s longest winning streak snapped despite 20 points and nine assists from Stephon Castle and 18 points apiece from Julian Champagnie and Devin Vassell.
The loss all but mathematically assures the Spurs will remain in the No. 2 spot in the Western Conference, unable to catch Oklahoma City.
The victory, the Nuggets’ 50th of the season, pushed Denver within half a game of the hobbled Los Angeles Lakers in third.
If the Nuggets are able to overtake the Lakers, it could create a collision course with the Spurs in the second round of the playoffs.
The teams play one more time in the regular season, an April 12 finale at the Frost Bank Center.
Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s loss, which denied the Spurs their first shot at 60 wins this season:
1. This could be must-see TV come May
Saturday marked the first time this season Wembanyama and Jokic shared the floor together.
The chess match that ensued was like Garry Kasparov vs. Bobby Fischer.
Jokic would figure out a way to get a hook shot off over Wembanyama. Wembanyama would adjust and block it the next time. Jokic would find a counter. Wembanyama would find a counter to the counter.
Jokic ended up calling checkmate, hitting a high-arching “Sombor Shuffle” fadeaway shot over Wembanyama to give Denver a 133-129 edge with a minute to go in OT.
The two All-Star centers are morphing into must-see TV whenever they are on the floor together.
A seven-game series of this might be the leading cause of heart attacks in the San Antonio and Denver metro areas come May.
2. Spurs will need a better Fox in playoffs
Despite a dip in scoring numbers, De’Aaron Fox has been all the Spurs have wanted and more this season.
Saturday, however, was not his best game of the season.
Fox finished 7 of 19 from the floor for 14 points, and committed a pair of turnovers.
One of the NBA’s most notable clutch players, Fox was also responsible for a pair of crushing offensive possessions late.
One came with the Spurs ahead by two and 8 seconds to go with the shot clock winding down. Fox couldn’t find daylight to the basket, briefly ended up losing track of the ball and had to fire up a deep contested 3-pointer at the shot clock horn that missed everything.
Later in OT, the Spurs had a 2-on-1 fast break going for the tie, but Fox misconnected with Vassell on an alley-oop attempt. Fox corralled the rebound, but missed a short open jumper.
Jokic followed with a floater to push Denver’s lead back to four with 9.8 seconds to go.
Fox has been good for the Spurs this season. He will need to be better in the playoffs.
Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon, right, pulls in a loose ball as San Antonio Spurs forward Julian Champagnie defends in the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, April 4, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
3. Spurs crown a new 3-point king
Champagnie came into the game needing six 3-pointers to break the Spurs’ single-season 3-point record.
He needed overtime, but he got it.
Having gone 5 for 7 from beyond the arc through regulation, Champagnie swished his first look of OT to give him 192 for the season.
That inched him atop the Spurs’ 3-point leaderboard ahead of Danny Green, who made 191 in 2014-15.
The timing of Champagnie’s record-breaker is interesting enough.
Monday, he will play his first game as the Spurs’ newly crowned 3-point king against Philadelphia, the team that waived him in February 2022 and paved his way to come to San Antonio.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News