By Jeje Gomez | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2026-04-05 22:34:17
周六在丹佛，圣安东尼奥马刺队打出了本赛季最精彩的比赛之一。遗憾的是，这场比赛以银黑军团在加时赛中令人心碎的失利告终，这似乎印证了怀疑论者的担忧：在具有季后赛强度的比赛中，面对顶级对手，马刺在关键时刻的执行力仍有欠缺。
实际上，这场失利虽然令人懊恼，但对马刺来说其实是种激励。虽然失利依然让人隐隐作痛，因为球队曾几次看起来胜券在握，但它展示了这支团队的天花板有多高，即便在他们状态并非最佳的时候。让我们来详细分析一下。
马刺犯了许多错误，却依然差点赢下比赛
当一支球队打出了近乎完美的表现却依然落败时，这种惜败于其他竞争对手的经历是令人沮丧的。当你的最佳水平仍不足以取胜，那就该重新审视自己是否真的能与顶级强队抗衡了。但马刺在关键时刻的表现远未达到他们的最佳水平，却依然有机会击败一个被公认为拥有争冠实力的对手。
在回看第四节时，我发现了以下几个判断上的错误：
- 在尼古拉·约基奇 (Nikola Jokic) 下场休息、约纳斯·瓦兰丘纳斯 (Jonas Valanciunas) 防守吃力时，维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 在进攻时间还剩18秒时直接选择了干拔三分，而不是跑战术。那一回合甚至没有一次传球。
- 当约基奇回到场上后，马刺让迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 获得了单打约基奇的机会，但他选择了三分出手，而不是通过突破来压缩防线，或尝试冲击篮筐——而他在篮下的终结能力是顶级的。
- 文班亚马在防守约基奇。双方发生了肢体接触，文班试图通过假摔来引起裁判注意。裁判没有鸣哨，约基奇直接获得了轻松攻筐的机会。
- 在凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 三分投丢后，马刺退防及时，但没有人冲上去盯防作为拖后跟进球员的贾马尔·穆雷 (Jamal Murray)，导致穆雷命中了一个几乎无人干扰的三分。
- 凯尔登·约翰逊在进攻时间还剩8秒时放弃了一个不错的三分机会。马刺试图重新组织，让哈珀在进攻时间将尽时强攻，结果出现失误，给了对手反击得分的机会。
再次强调，这些只是判断上的错误，而非执行力的问题。那些球权停滞、马刺没能迅速找到空位射手的回合，或者例如达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 在防守三分时扑得太凶导致对手打成3+1的回合，都没有计算在内。我们的重点在于过程而非结果，因此，像哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 空位三分投出三不沾，或者斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 在面对小哈达威 (Hardaway Jr.) 隔离单打时走步，这些例子也不在讨论之列。
没有球队是完美的，掘金也会犯错，但对于圣安东尼奥来说，这些错误实在太多了，尤其是面对一个能抓住这些机会的对手。看着这份清单，你可能会以为马刺在第四节被打崩了，但实际上他们仅输了4分，并且在最后一分钟还保持着两球的领先优势。
教练组和执行力仍有巨大的提升空间
既然对马刺作为真正竞争者的最大诟病是他们的年轻和缺乏经验，有人会说，他们因为决策失误而输掉比赛正说明有很多理由值得担心。但这场比赛在策略上也输了，而这在季后赛系列赛中是不该发生的，因为届时明显的调整是预料之中的。
同样，仅关注第四节和加时赛，临时主帅米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 本可以做出许多调整来应对掘金的打法。其中一个核心点涉及尼古拉·约基奇。丹佛交替让约基奇去防守凯尔登·约翰逊、朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie) 或斯蒂芬·卡斯尔。马刺本该让这位大个子参与到核心战术中，迫使他在换防后去防守文班亚马或后卫，但马刺在很大程度上让约基奇在防守端得到了休息，他只是站在底角附近，如果球传到他防守的人手里，他也只是象征性地干扰一下。
如果他们没有针对约基奇，那么马刺在进攻端在做什么？他们很多战术是让文班亚马在罚球区肘区接球。当文班通过换防对上贾马尔·穆雷时，效果很好，他要么自己得分，要么在吸引包夹后让队友获得空位三分机会。问题在于，每当阿隆·戈登 (Aaron Gordon) 能够及时回防并对位文班时，文班在面对这位联盟顶级防守者时就显得很挣扎，要么选择失去平衡的投篮，要么持球时间过长，在进攻时间快结束时才把球传出去。
调整始终没有到来，这令人担心吗？除非你认为如果这两支球队在季后赛相遇，约翰逊依然不会做出调整，否则不必过虑。
马刺或许需要这场失利来保持敏锐
看到这支马刺队如此富有天赋，距离赢得比赛仅差那么一两个回合，这至少在某种程度上是令人欣慰的。如果文班在常规时间掘金扳平比分的那一球中没有搞砸换防，或者投进了那个潜在的准绝杀，舆论将会完全不同。如果福克斯的传球再精准一点，或者德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 在比赛还剩23秒、尝试通过空接扳平比分时能控制住球，也许圣安东尼奥最终就赢了。
与此同时，许多比赛，尤其是激烈的季后赛，往往取决于少数几个回合。马刺需要成为更敏锐的那一方，而他们在过去的两个月里并没有受到太多真正的考验。对于竞争者来说，没有所谓的“精神胜利”，但有学习经验，而这就是一次。甚至球员们也认同这一点。
“像这样的比赛正是我们需要的，尤其是考虑到我们过去一周半所对阵的球队，有些球队并不是在为我们所追求的目标而战，”朱利安·尚帕尼说道。 “显而易见，我们输了，这不是你想要的结果，但我认为当我们回去复盘录像时，会有很多有价值的东西值得借鉴。”
与此同时，文班亚马称这次对决“很有趣”，并提到了与尚帕尼类似的观点：
“我对这场比赛的结论是，这对我们有好处。今晚发生的一切对我们都有好处。这是一次真正的考验，对手是一支真正在为某些目标而战的球队。这有一点季后赛的感觉了。”
一场胜利固然理想，而且也曾触手可及，但这场失利提醒了马刺，随着季后赛的临近，他们需要解决这些细节问题，这无疑是一件好事。
由生成式 AI 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：Why the Spurs’ loss to the Nuggets is nothing to worry about
Why the Spurs’ loss to the Nuggets is nothing to worry about
The Spurs played one of the most entertaining games of the season in Denver on Saturday. Unfortunately, it ended with a painful loss in overtime for the Silver and Black, which helped confirm the concerns of the skeptics about San Antonio’s chances to execute down the stretch against top-level opponents in games with playoff intensity.
In reality, the loss, while annoying, is actually encouraging for the Spurs. It doesn’t make it sting any less, because the team seemed to have it in the bag a couple of times, but it showed just how high the ceiling of this group is, even when they are not at their best. Let’s break it down.
The Spurs made a lot of mistakes and still almost won the game
Close losses to other contenders are discouraging when a team plays almost flawless basketball, and it’s still not enough. When your best falls short, it’s time to reconsider whether you can actually measure up with the top dogs. But the Spurs did not play near their best down the stretch, and they still had a chance to beat an opponent the consensus believes can win a championship.
While rewatching the fourth quarter, here are the mistakes in judgment I could see:
- With Jokic off the court and Valanciunas reeling defensively, Wembanyama takes a pull-up three with 18 seconds on the clock instead of running anything. Not one pass on the play.
- With Jokic back on the floor, the Spurs get Dylan Harper a switch to attack Jokic and he settles for a three instead of driving to collapse the defense or try to get to the rim, where his finishing is elite.
- Wembanyama is guarding Jokic. It gets physical, and Wemby flops to get the official’s attention. They don’t call the foul, and Jokic has a clear path to score at the rim.
- After a Keldon Johnson missed three, the Spurs get back in transition, but no one rushes to pick up Jamal Murray as the trailer, and Murray hits a lightly contested three.
- Keldon Johnson passes up a good three with eight seconds in the shot clock. Spurs try to reset with Harper attacking with the shot winding down, but turn it over, and allow a transition bucket.
Again, these are just errors in judgment, not execution. The possessions in which the ball got sticky and the Spurs didn’t find an open shooter quickly enough, or, for example, when De’Aaron Fox closed out too recklessly on a three for a four-point play, are not counted. The focus is also on process over result, so Harrison Barnes airballing an open three or Castle travelling on an isolation against Hardaway Jr., for example, aren’t on this list.
No team is perfect, and the Nuggets also had their errors, but those are a lot of mistakes for San Antonio, especially against an opponent that can capitalize on them. Looking at that list, you’d imagine the Spurs got crushed in the fourth quarter, but they only lost by four and held a two-possession lead in the final minute.
The coaching and execution have plenty of room to improve
Now, since the biggest knock on the Spurs as legitimate contenders is their youth and lack of experience, some would say that the fact they lost because of poor decision-making shows that there are plenty of reasons for concern. But the game was also lost strategically, and that shouldn’t happen in a playoff series where obvious adjustments are expected.
Again, just focusing on the fourth quarter and overtime, there were plenty of tweaks Mitch Johnson could have made to counter the Nuggets’ play. One of the main ones involved Nikola Jokic. Denver hid The Joker on Keldon Johnson, Julian Champagnie, and Stephon Castle, alternatively. Instead of getting the big man involved in the main action and forcing him to defend either Wembanyama or a guard after a switch, they largely allowed Jokic to rest on defense, as he stood near the corner, barely contesting shots if the ball moved to his man.
So if they were not hunting Jokic, what were the Spurs doing on offense? They were running a lot of their plays through Wembanyama at the elbow. When Wemby got Jamal Murray on a switch, that was a good outcome, as he either scored or someone got an open three after a double team. The problem was that whenever Aaron Gordon managed to recover and guard Wemby, he struggled against one of the best defenders in the league, either taking off-balance shots or holding the ball for too long and passing out with the shot clock about to expire.
Is it worrisome that the adjustments never came? Only if you believe that Johnson wouldn’t make them if these two teams met in the playoffs.
The Spurs probably needed this loss to keep them sharp
It has to be at least somewhat reassuring to see that this Spurs team is so talented that there were a couple of plays away from winning the game. If Wemby doesn’t botch the switch in the tying Nuggets’ bucket in regulation or hits the would-be game-winner, the discourse would be completely different. Had Fox made a slightly better pass or had Vassell been able to control the ball in the alley-oop attempt to tie it with 23 seconds to go, maybe San Antonio would have ended up winning.
At the same time, a lot of games, especially close postseason games, come down to a handful of plays. The Spurs need to be the ones who are sharper, and they were not getting tested much in the past couple of months. There are no moral victories for contenders, but there are learning experiences, and this was one. Even the players agreed.
“A game like this is something that we needed, especially with the games we’ve been playing the past week and a half, with some teams that are not fighting for what we are fighting for,” said Julian Champagnie. “Obviously, we lost, and that’s not the outcome you want to leave with, but I think that when we go back and watch the film, there will be a lot of valuable things that we can take from that.”
Meanwhile, Wembanyama called the matchup “fun” and touched on the same topics as Champagnie:
“My conclusion for this game is that it’s good for us. Everything that happened tonight is good for us. It’s a real test against a team that actually is playing for something right now. It had a little bit of playoff vibes.”
A win would have been ideal, and was within grasp, but the loss reminded the Spurs they need to clean things up as the postseason approaches, which is undoubtedly a good thing.
By Jeje Gomez, via Pounding The Rock