By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-04-17 16:16:29
2025年4月6日（周日），在俄勒冈州波特兰市举行的一场NBA比赛下半场中，波特兰开拓者队后卫谢登·夏普 (Shaedon Sharpe) (17) 试图越过圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) (5) 进行传球。(美联社照片/Amanda Loman)
卡斯尔的脑子里全是德尼·阿夫迪亚 (Deni Avdija)。
这位马刺队顶级外线防守者与波特兰球星前锋之间的对决，将成为整个西部季后赛首轮系列赛的焦点。
“斯蒂芬已经准备好迎接挑战了，”马刺队前锋德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 说道，“这也是他过去几天一直在谈论的话题。”
阿夫迪亚身高6英尺8英寸，体重228磅，本赛季首次入选全明星。在周二晚上波特兰开拓者队以114-110战胜菲尼克斯太阳队的NBA附加赛中，他砍下了41分和12次助攻。他以场均24.2分的得分排在联盟第14位，以场均6.7次的助攻排在第12位，并且是全联盟仅有的三位场均贡献“24+分、6+篮板、6+助攻”的球员之一，另外两位是卢卡·东契奇 (Luka Doncic) 和尼古拉·约基奇 (Nikola Jokic)。
这位25岁的以色列人以场均7.4次罚球尝试排名联盟第三。
“显而易见，他是对方的‘蛇头’（核心人物），所以我们预料到他会极具侵略性，”卡斯尔表示，“他绝对是我们关注的焦点。”
瓦塞尔对卡斯尔迎接挑战充满信心。
“他以防守持球人为荣，我想我们所有人都是如此，”瓦塞尔说道，“看看前几场比赛的对位情况会很有趣。但在（注重防守的助教肖恩·）斯威尼 (Sean Sweeney) 以及我们所有教练的带领下，我们已经制定了出色的比赛计划。我认为我们已经准备好去执行它了。”
瓦塞尔表示，关键在于限制阿夫迪亚擅长的右手。
“我们知道他喜欢走右手，所以如果我们能封堵他的右手，并尽可能减少他走上罚球线的次数，那么我们的处境就会很好，”瓦塞尔说道。
但马刺队深知这绝非易事。
“他是一个永不停歇的突破手，”达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 在谈到阿夫迪亚时说道，“这就是他的立身之本。你知道他想做什么，他也知道自己想做什么，我想全场观众都知道他想做什么。但问题是，你能阻止他吗？你不可能完全锁死他，也不可能让他停下来，因为他坚韧不拔。你只能试着让他打得尽可能低效。这是一件很难的事情。这就是为什么他们能击败强大的菲尼克斯，也是为什么他们能打进季后赛。”
福克斯表示，限制阿夫迪亚需要全队的努力。
“这将是一个集体的努力，”他说道，“显然，我们希望（让卡斯尔）在对位持球时做得出色，将他赶往我们预设的区域。但你必须得到队友的协防。”
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：Spurs' Stephon Castle ready to defend Blazers' Deni Avdija
Spurs’ Stephon Castle ready to defend Blazers’ Deni Avdija
Portland Trail Blazers guard Shaedon Sharpe (17) looks to pass past San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Amanda Loman)
Stephon Castle has Deni Avdija on his mind.
The matchup between the Spurs top perimeter defender and Portland’s star forward will be in the spotlight throughout the first-round Western Conference playoff series.
“Steph is ready to take that challenge,” Spurs forward Devin Vassell said. “That’s what he’s been talking about the past couple of days.”
Avdija, a 6-foot-8, 228-pound first-time All-Star this season, had 41 points and 12 assists in the Trail Blazers’ 114-110 victory over Phoenix on Tuesday night in the NBA Play-In Tournament. He ranked 14th in the league in scoring with a 24.2 per-game average and 12th in assists with a 6.7 norm and was one of just three players in the league along with Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic to average 24-plus points, 6-plus rebounds and 6-plus assists.
The 25-year-old Israeli ranked third in the league in free throws attempted per game at 7.4.
“Obviously, he’s the head of the snake for them, so we expect him to be super aggressive,” Castle said. “He’s definitely a focal point of ours.”
Vassell is confident Castle is ready for the challenge.
“He takes pride in guarding the ball, and I think all of us do,” Vassell said. “It’s going to be interesting to see how that matchup is these first couple of games. But with (defensive-minded assistant Sean) Sweeney and all the coaches we have here, we have a great game plan. I think we’re ready to execute it.”
Vassell said the key will be taking away Avdija’s dominant right hand.
“We know he loves getting to his right hand, so if we can take away that right hand and getting to the free throw line as much as he does away, then we’ll be in good shape,” Vassell said.
But the Spurs know it won’t be easy.
“He’s just a relentless driver,” De’Aarn Fox said of Avdija. “That’s what makes him who he is. You know what he wants to do. He knows what he wants to do. I think the arena knows what he wants to do. But it’s can you stop him? You’re not going to just shut him down. You’re not going to stop him because he is relentless. You just try to make his night as inefficient as possible. And that’s a tough thing to do. That’s why they were able to beat a good Phoenix team and that’s why they made the playoffs.”
Fox said the task of slowing down Avdija will require a team effort.
“It’s going to be a collective effort,” he said. “Obviously, we want to do a good job on the ball (with Castle). Send him where we want to send him. But you’re going to have help.”
By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News