By Jared Weiss and Jason Quick | The Athletic, 2026-04-15 05:05:29
维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 职业生涯的首个季后赛对手已经确定，而这支球队也正处于属于自己的高光时刻。波特兰开拓者队在NBA附加赛的一场惊心动魄的对决中，客场击败了菲尼克斯太阳队，时隔五年重返季后赛。现在，这两支冉冉升起的球队将在首轮展开一场引人入胜的较量。
随着文班亚马所在的马刺队以令人震惊的速度冲向NBA战绩榜首，许多NBA球迷整个赛季都在追问的问题终于有了答案：他以及他那支年轻的圣安东尼奥马刺队，能否在季后赛的压力下挺住？
尽管马刺队本赛季表现出色，豪取62胜，并在与西部劲敌俄克拉荷马城雷霆队的五次交手中赢下四场，但他们进入季后赛时，却是联盟历史上季后赛经验最欠缺的前两号种子之一。轮换阵容中，季后赛出场超过7场的主要球员仅有替补席上的哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 和卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet)。除此之外，由文班亚马、斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle)、达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox)、德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell)、凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 和迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 组成的年轻核心层，在春季的季后赛舞台上基本未经考验。
这群年轻的开拓者队同样如此。自2021年达米安·利拉德 (Damian Lillard) 还在用他的Logo超远三分震撼“撕裂之城”以来，他们凭借赛季末的一波冲刺首次杀回季后赛。（利拉德实际上也在名单中，他在今年夏天回归，目前正在从跟腱断裂中康复。）波特兰的主帅是前马刺中锋蒂亚戈·斯普利特 (Tiago Splitter)，球队的打法与利拉德曾经领导的那支球队截然不同。在25岁的以色列前锋德尼·阿夫迪亚 (Deni Avdija) 的带领下——他在被华盛顿奇才队交易后已成长为球星——开拓者队体型高大、球风强硬且极具侵略性，足以让文班亚马打得很难受。他们的进攻篮板率高居联盟第三。他们拥有自己的潜力核心，包括近年的新秀多诺万·克林根 (Donovan Clingan)、斯库特·亨德森 (Scoot Henderson) 和谢顿·夏普 (Shaedon Sharpe)，还有像图马尼·卡马拉 (Toumani Camara) 和马蒂斯·赛布尔 (Matisse Thybulle) 这样的“瑞士军刀”型侧翼，以及两届总冠军得主朱·霍勒迪 (Jrue Holiday) 和前锋杰拉米·格兰特 (Jerami Grant) 等老将。
但是，想要与身高7英尺4英寸的文班亚马以及这支崛起的马刺队竞争？这绝非易事，即便开拓者已经展现出他们不会在挑战面前退缩。
我们可以从这个系列赛中期待什么？贾里德·韦斯 (Jared Weiss)（负责马刺）和杰森·奎克 (Jason Quick)（负责开拓者）将为您导航。
进入季后赛，这两支球队各自最大的看点是什么？
贾里德·韦斯 (Jared Weiss)： 对于马刺来说，显然是文班亚马。但这位联盟的新超级巨星能否经受住NBA冲冠征程的严酷考验？这不仅仅是因为他必须打比平时更长的时间，更在于每支球队的防守都会整晚试图击溃他。
文班亚马将不得不面对一轮接一轮的高强度身体对抗，每一套防守体系都会在整个系列赛中寻找将他赶出舒适区的方法，希望能以此消耗他。在文班亚马短暂的NBA生涯中，我们几乎见过他无所不能，但我们还没见过他每晚都要持续面对这种级别的对抗。
他应该能迎接挑战，但对于这位最终可能成为史上最伟大球员的人来说，这仍然是一个巨大的未知数。
杰森·奎克 (Jason Quick)： 波特兰是认真的吗？
开拓者在赛季末势头强劲，最后14场比赛赢了10场。自全明星赛以来，他们的防守效率与圣安东尼奥并列联盟第三，仅次于俄克拉荷马城和亚特兰大。但很难界定开拓者到底打得有多好。在那波10胜4负的收官战中，他们击败的胜率过半的球队仅有明尼苏达森林狼（当时安东尼·爱德华兹缺阵）以及两次战胜快船。
对开拓者来说，令人鼓舞的是他们的阵容终于健康了。谢顿·夏普在因左小腿下部应力性骨折缺席28场比赛后，在常规赛最后两场回归，提供了即时火力；斯库特·亨德森（汉密尔顿肌腱伤势）直到2月才复出，但在回归后的30场比赛中场均贡献14.2分和3.7次助攻。在附加赛胜利中投中几记关键球的前锋杰拉米·格兰特，在因小腿拉伤缺席了最后七场常规赛后也已回归。
我们最关注的趋势
贾里德·韦斯 (Jared Weiss)： 马刺已经保持了几个月的高水平发挥，但在过去两个月里，他们并没有频繁面对季后赛级别的对抗。当每晚都是真正的硬仗，且赛程中不再穿插那些摆烂或伤兵满营的球队时，他们会如何反应？
有趣的是，文班亚马本赛季还没有对阵过开拓者，所以我们没有任何录像可以分析。文班亚马将如何应对多诺万·克林根——一个无疑会在篮筐之上迎接对抗，并整晚与他争夺位置的球员？开拓者还有很多其他球员可以给文班亚马施加身体对抗，还有像图马尼·卡马拉和朱·霍勒迪这样优秀的侧翼防守者，他们会让文班亚马在人堆中的运球变得困难。
但尽管开拓者会竭力破坏文班亚马的进攻节奏，他已经证明了自己能够应对挑战。
杰森·奎克 (Jason Quick)： 波特兰的三分球投得怎么样？
虽然开拓者本赛季的三分命中率排名联盟倒数第三（34.3%），但在过去一个月里，随着外线手感回暖，他们看起来非常强大。在赛季最后的三个星期里，图马尼·卡马拉曾在比赛中投中过9个、8个和6个三分球，而朱·霍勒迪曾连续打出单场7个、7个和5个三分的表现。如果你在寻找开拓者能爆冷击败马刺的迹象，首先要看他们的三分投射。
图马尼·卡马拉的投篮表现将是开拓者爆冷机会的关键。(Troy Wayrynen / Imagn)
最令我们感兴趣的对位
贾里德·韦斯 (Jared Weiss)： 文班亚马对阵另一位大中锋并为每一寸空间而战的比赛，在今年总是非常精彩。几周前与尼古拉·约基奇 (Nikola Jokić) 的那场史诗级对决是本赛季NBA的标志性时刻之一。
所以我很期待看到克林根如何让他打得难受，克林根已经是联盟中最具威慑力的禁区守护者之一，在篮筐周围极具统治力。克林根虽然没有文班亚马的长度或灵活性，但他拥有力量优势，很可能会有几次把文班挤在篮下。虽然文班亚马很可能会在整体对位中胜出，但这种对手可能让他显得“像个凡人”的可能性，正是这个系列赛引人入胜的地方。
杰森·奎克 (Jason Quick)： 克林根在攻防两端对阵文班亚马的表现会如何？
马刺这位7英尺4英寸的球星本赛季没打过开拓者，而在克林根去年的新秀赛季中，两人在三场比赛中仅共同在场25分钟，期间文班亚马表现不错，但绝非统治级。
克林根是波特兰年轻人中进步最明显的，也可能是球队能走到这一步的最大原因。他是一名顶级的护筐者、出色的篮板手，并且能持续干扰对手投篮。他的进攻手段也得到了进化，本赛季投中了84记三分，并成为了稳定的空接威胁。
这里的关键因素不仅在于克林根能否在防守端限制文班亚马，还在于文班亚马能否在进攻端限制克林根这个7英尺2英寸的庞然大物。
系列赛预测
贾里德·韦斯 (Jared Weiss)： 马刺横扫。文班亚马的防守能有效遏制波特兰对篮筐的冲击，而且马刺拥有足够的侧翼防守深度来压制开拓者的进攻。看文班亚马尝试在克林根和罗伯特·威廉姆斯 (Robert Williams) 头上得分会很有趣，这两位中锋确实能影响他的突破和出手点。霍勒迪和卡马拉会让马刺的控卫们难以流畅运转进攻。但马刺的火力储备和阵容深度远超开拓者。一旦他们跑起来，比赛就失去悬念了。
杰森·奎克 (Jason Quick)： 圣安东尼奥横扫。开拓者的时代即将到来，但不是现在。马刺是我本赛季见过的最完整的球队之一，而文班亚马是这项运动前所未见的球员。他有无数种影响比赛的方式，其中并非所有都能体现在技术统计上。如果开拓者遇到卡马拉百发百中、夏普手感火热的夜晚，我觉得他们能偷走一场胜利。但马刺太强韧、太纪律严明且阵容太深厚了，我不认为这会是一个有竞争力的系列赛。
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：Spurs vs. Blazers, NBA playoffs preview: How will Victor Wembanyama handle his first playoff test?
Spurs vs. Blazers, NBA playoffs preview: How will Victor Wembanyama handle his first playoff test?
Victor Wembanyama’s first career playoff opponent is set, and it’s a team also having its own moment in the spotlight. The Portland Trail Blazers are back in the playoffs for the first time in half a decade after storming into Phoenix to defeat the Suns in a thrilling NBA Play-In Tournament showdown. Now, these two rising teams will face off in an intriguing first-round matchup.
As Wembanyama’s Spurs have surged to the top of the NBA standings with shocking speed, the question so many NBA fans have asked throughout the season can finally be answered: Just how will he, and his young San Antonio Spurs team, hold up under the pressure of the postseason?
As well as the Spurs have played this season, amassing 62 wins while winning four of five against their West rivals from Oklahoma City, they enter the playoffs as one of the most inexperienced top-two seeds in league history. The only key rotation players with more than seven games of playoff experience are reserves Harrison Barnes and Luke Kornet. Otherwise, the young nucleus of Wembanyama, Stephon Castle, De’Aaron Fox, Devin Vassell, Keldon Johnson and Dylan Harper is largely untested in the spring.
The same is true of these young Trail Blazers, who have rode a late-season surge all the way to their first playoff appearance since 2021, when Damian Lillard was still electrifying Rip City with his logo 3s. (Lillard is actually on the roster, having returned this summer to rehab a torn Achilles.) Portland is coached by former Spurs big man Tiago Splitter, and plays far differently than the teams Lillard once led. Led by forward Deni Avdija, a 25-year-old Israeli who has emerged as a star after being traded by the Washington Wizards, the Trail Blazers are big, tough and aggressive enough to make life difficult for Wembanyama, having finished third in the league in offensive rebound percentage. They have their own budding core that features recent draft picks Donovan Clingan, Scoot Henderson and Shaedon Sharpe, Swiss Army Knife wings like Toumani Camara and Matisse Thybulle, and veterans like two-time champion Jrue Holiday and forward Jerami Grant.
But competing with the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama and this rising Spurs team? That will be a tall order, even if the Blazers have shown they won’t back down from the challenge.
What can we expect from this series? We have Jared Weiss (Spurs) and Jason Quick (Blazers) here to guide you.
What is the biggest storyline for each of these teams headed into the playoffs?
Jared Weiss: For the Spurs, it’s obviously Wembanyama. But can the league’s new megastar withstand the rigors of an NBA title run? It’s not just that he has to play more minutes than he is used to playing. It’s the fact that every single defense will be trying to beat him down all night long.
Wembanyama will have to go through physical defense after physical defense, each of which will spend an entire series looking for ways to knock him out of his comfort zone in hopes of wearing him down. We’ve seen Wembanyama do just about everything in his short NBA career, but we haven’t seen him consistently face that level of opposition night and night out.
He should be up for the challenge, but it is still the great unknown for the guy who could end up being the greatest player in the game.
Jason Quick: Is Portland for real?
The Blazers finished the season surging, winning 10 of their final 14 games. Since the All-Star break, they are tied with San Antonio with the league’s third-best defensive rating, behind only Oklahoma City and Atlanta. But it was tough to decipher just how good the Blazers were really playing. During that 10-4 close to the season, their only victories against teams with winning records were at Minnesota (without Anthony Edwards), and twice against the Clippers.
What should be encouraging for the Blazers is their roster is finally healthy. The instant offense of Shaedon Sharpe returned for the final two regular season games after after missing 28 games with a stress fracture in his lower left leg, Scoot Henderson (hamstring) didn’t play until February but has come back to average 14.2 points, 3.7 assists in 30 games. Forward Jerami Grant, who hit several key shots in the Play-In victory, is also back after missing the season’s final seven games with a calf strain.
The trends we’re watching closest
Jared Weiss: The Spurs have been playing at an incredible level for months now but they haven’t faced consistent playoff competition much in the last couple months. How do they react when it’s a real battle every night and the litany of tanking or injured teams aren’t sprinkled throughout their schedule?
The funny thing is that Wembanyama hasn’t faced the Blazers yet this season, so we don’t have any tape to parse through. How does Wembanyama handle Donovan Clingan — a player who will undoubtedly meet the fight above the rim and wrestle him for position all night long — for an entire series? The Blazers have a ton of other players who can play Wembanyama physically and some great perimeter defenders in Toumani Camara and Jrue Holiday who can make it hard for Wembanyama to dribble through traffic.
But as much as the Blazers will make it tough for Wembanyama to find an offensive comfort zone, he has shown he is up for the challenge.
Jason Quick: How does Portland shoot from 3-point range?
While the Blazers finished the season ranked 28th out of 30 teams in 3-point percentage (34.3), they have looked formidable as they heated up from behind the arc in the past month. In the season’s final three weeks, Toumani Camara had games where he hit nine, eight and six 3-pointers, while Jrue Holiday had consecutive games of seven, seven and five 3-pointers. If you are looking for signs that the Blazers can pull off an upset of the Spurs, look first to how they are shooting from 3.
Toumani Camara’s shooting will be critical to the Blazers’ chances of springing an upset. (Troy Wayrynen / Imagn)
The matchups that most intrigue us
Jared Weiss: The games in which Wembanyama has to go up against another big center and fight for every inch have been so much fun this year. That epic clash against Nikola Jokić a few weeks ago was one of the hallmark moments of the NBA season.
So I’m excited to see how Clingan, already one of the disruptive paint patrollers in the league and a force around the rim, drives him crazy. Cligan doesn’t have Wembanyama’s length or flexibility, but he has the power advantage and is probably going to bury Wemby under the rim a few times. There is something about the possibility of an opposing player making Wembanyama look human that is so enticing about this series, even if Wembanyama will likely win the individual matchup in the aggregate.
Jason Quick: How does Clingan fare against Wembanyama — on either end?
The Spurs’ 7-foot-4 star didn’t play against the Blazers this season, and in Clingan’s rookie season last year, the two were on the court at the same time for just 25 minutes over three games, during which Wembanyama fared well but wasn’t dominant by any means.
Clingan has made the most significant jump of Portland’s youngsters and is probably the biggest reason the team has progressed this far. He is an elite rim protector, superb rebounder and consistently alters shots. His offensive game has also blossomed, as he made 84 3-pointers this season and has become a consistent lob threat.
The X-factor here is not only whether Clingan can neutralize Wembanyama on defense, but whether Wembanyama can contain the 7-foot-2 behemoth that is Clingan on offense.
Predictions for the series
Jared Weiss: This is a Spurs sweep. Wembanyama’s defense counters Portland’s rim attack effectively, and the Spurs have the depth of perimeter defenders to stifle the Blazers offense. It will be exciting to watch Wembanyama try to score over Clingan and Robert Williams, two centers who could actually affect his drives and release points. Holiday and Camara will make it hard for the Spurs’ point guards to run the offense smoothly. But the Spurs have too much firepower and depth for the Blazers. When they get out and run, it’ll be lights out.
**Jason Quick:**San Antonio in a sweep. The Blazers are coming, but not right now. The Spurs are one of the most complete teams I’ve seen this season, and Wembanyama is unlike any player the game has seen. He has a myriad of ways to impact a game, and not all of them are reflected in the box score. If the Blazers have one of those nights where Camara is hitting everything in sight and Sharpe gets on a roll, I can see them sneaking in a game. But the Spurs are so tough, so disciplined and so deep that I can’t see it being a competitive series.
By Jared Weiss and Jason Quick, via The Athletic