By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-04-25 13:47:31
圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) (5) 与后卫迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) (2) 在周五（2026年4月24日）于波特兰摩达中心举行的NBA季后赛首轮对阵波特兰开拓者队的第三场比赛开始前握手。卡斯尔和哈珀率领马刺队以120-108战胜开拓者队。
俄勒冈州波特兰——一年前，迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 还只是一名观众。
当时19岁的他在结束了在罗格斯大学（Rutgers）唯一的大学赛季后回到纽约家中，坐在他那著名家族熟悉的麦迪逊广场花园场边席位上，观看尼克斯队在东部决赛中对阵印第安纳步行者队。
在哈珀作为马刺队新秀横空出世并有能力扭转季后赛系列赛局势的几个月前，他只是前排的一名观众，沉浸在比赛的氛围中。
“亲眼看到比赛是多么具有身体对抗性且多么激烈，”哈珀说道，他曾随曾在NBA效力的父亲罗恩·哈珀 (Ron Harper) 观看过数十场尼克斯队的季后赛，“当你作为球迷坐在那里观看时，这就是让你印象深刻的东西。”
时光飞逝，不到12个月后，他成为了马刺队周五在摩达中心以120-108逆转战胜波特兰的首要功臣，帮助球队将这轮西部首轮系列赛的局势重新拉回到对己方有利的一面。
哈珀替补出场砍下27分，险些打破马刺队史20岁球员季后赛单场最高得分纪录。他还抢下了10个篮板，成为NBA历史上在季后赛中拿到两双最年轻的后卫。
凭借这一表现，哈珀在帮助马刺队在缺少维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 的情况下赢得关键的第三场比赛中发挥了巨大的作用。现在，他们带着2-1的系列赛领先优势进入周日波特兰的第四场比赛，并且至少有微弱的机会能让他们的全明星中锋从NBA脑震荡保护协议中回归。
“这是我从小就在等待的时刻，”哈珀说，“这是你能达到的篮球最高舞台。”
周五的胜利是在22岁的文班亚马因周二第二场失利中遭受脑震荡而穿着便装观战的情况下取得的，这不仅改善了二号种子马刺队在七年来首个季后赛系列赛中的前景，也凸显了俱乐部长期未来的无限光明。
在文班亚马缺阵的情况下，马刺队依靠阵容中比他更年轻的三名球员赢得了一场关键的季后赛。
正是21岁的斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle)，去年的NBA年度最佳新秀，在比赛初期稳住了局势，他全场砍下最高的33分，其中19分来自上半场。
卡斯尔随后在第四节又得到11分，锁定了胜局。
“我从一开始就保持着侵略性，”卡斯尔说，他在系列赛前两场比赛中总共33投11中，但周五18投10中，“我没有过多地在外线跳投。我试着寻找自己的出手点，尽量不去强投。”
卡斯尔和哈珀成为了自2010年俄克拉荷马城雷霆队的凯文·杜兰特 (Kevin Durant) 和拉塞尔·威斯布鲁克 (Russell Westbrook) 在对阵洛杉矶湖人队的首轮系列赛中做到这一点以来，NBA首对在季后赛单场比赛中各得至少25分的21岁或更年轻的队友。
哈珀全场12投9中，其中三分球5投4中。
卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant)，马刺队另一位20岁的新秀，替补出场23分钟，表现既稳健又惊艳。
“我们一直在努力磨比赛，然后在某个时刻，局势开始向我们倾斜，”马刺队教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 说，“那两个年轻人带头冲锋。”
对于卡斯尔来说，周五的逆转胜利回应了关于这支稚嫩马刺队处理季后赛逆境能力的任何质疑。
“我觉得我们队里有一群不会放弃的斗士（dogs），”卡斯尔说。
在某些情况下，这些“斗士”还只是幼犬。
周五第三节还剩5分02秒时，马刺队曾以67-82落后。
马刺队的这对新秀在扭转比赛乃至整个系列赛的逆转中都留下了自己的烙印。
哈珀在下半场拿到了他27分中的22分，包括在比赛还剩8分51秒时投进的反超三分球。
在那之后不久，哈珀切入底线，顶着补防的罗伯特·威廉姆斯三世 (Robert Williams III) 完成扣篮，甚至让场边的文班都感到震惊。
“是的，文班简直不敢相信。”
https://t.co/7BTvywqx5h pic.twitter.com/YEPk15yOa4
— NBA (@ NBA) April 25, 2026
布莱恩特的贡献则更为微妙，除了他全队最高的3次强力盖帽外，如果没有他在外线的强硬防守和对篮板的拼抢，马刺队可能无法赢得比赛。
“显然迪伦的数据单很亮眼，”约翰逊说，“但我认为卡特的表现同样出色。”
赛季初期，约翰逊宁愿生吞一个圣安东尼奥嘉年华彩蛋（Fiesta cascarone），也不愿让两个经验不足的新秀同时上场。
哈珀作为去年夏天选秀大会的榜眼秀，显然极具天赋，但必须学习NBA比赛的门道。
与此同时，来自亚利桑那大学的14号秀布莱恩特用他自己的话来说，当时“简直没法上场”。
“我知道自己的能力，”布莱恩特说，“这只是信心问题。”
在周五之后，约翰逊应该不再对让两名新秀共同上场有任何顾虑了。
“我认为那两个年轻孩子，他们打得非常有侵略性，速度非常快，真的为我们奠定了基调，”约翰逊说。
对于哈珀来说，第三场比赛的爆发是厚积薄发。
他不再是NBA季后赛的旁观者，马刺队也因此变得更好。
“我认为为了不辜负这个时刻，我试着不给自己太大压力，”哈珀说，“我只是把它当作任何一场普通的比赛。我上场后试着在任何可以发挥的地方表现得果敢，不去过度思考我在球场上做的事情。”
马刺队后卫迪伦·哈珀谈及他在第三场战胜开拓者队的比赛中创下职业生涯新高的得分之夜：“当时的能量有点低迷，当我上场时，我最大的重点不是试图一次性解决问题，而是努力成为那个上场拼命打球、带来能量的球员。” pic.twitter.com/mB56NVH3u8
— Spurs Nation (@ Spurs_Nation) April 25, 2026
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' youth came of age in Game 3 against Portland
How the Spurs’ youth came of age in Game 3 against Portland
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) and guard Dylan Harper (2) shake hands before the start of Game 3 of a first-round NBA playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center in Portland, Friday, April 24, 2026. Castle and Harper lead the Spurs to a 120-108 victory over the Trail Blazers.
PORTLAND, Ore. — A year ago, Dylan Harper was just a fan.
He was 19 years old, back home in New York after his lone college season at Rutgers, nestled into his famous family’s familiar courtside seats at Madison Square Garden to watch the Knicks face Indiana in the Eastern Conference finals.
Months before Harper emerged as a Spurs rookie sensation capable of turning a playoff series on its ear, he was just a spectator in the front row, soaking it all in.
“Just seeing how physical and intense the game was,” said Harper, who attended scores of Knicks playoff games with his NBA-playing father, Ron Harper. “That’s kind of something that stands out when you’re just sitting there watching as a fan.”
Flash forward not quite 12 months, and he is a prime reason the Spurs rallied for a 120-108 Game 3 victory over Portland at the Moda Center on Friday to reset the Western Conference first-round series in their favor.
Harper scored 27 points off the bench, flirting with the Spurs’ playoff record for most in a game by a 20-year-old. He added 10 rebounds to become the youngest guard in NBA history to post a double-double in the postseason.
In doing so, Harper played an outsized role in helping the Spurs win a pivotal Game 3 without Victor Wembanyama. They now carry a 2-1 series lead into Game 4 on Sunday in Portland, with at least an outside chance of getting their All-Star center back from NBA concussion protocol.
“It was a moment I’ve been waiting for since I was a little kid,” Harper said. “This is the biggest stage of basketball you could ever get to.”
Friday’s victory, which came with the 22-year-old Wembanyama in street clothes while recovering from a concussion suffered in Tuesday’s Game 2 defeat, not only improved the second-seeded Spurs’ outlook in their first playoff series in seven years.
It also underscored how blazingly bright the club’s long-term future remains.
With Wembanyama unavailable, the Spurs won a critical playoff game on the backs of the three players on the roster younger than he is.
It was 21-year-old Stephon Castle, last year’s NBA Rookie of the Year, who stabilized the Spurs early, with 19 of his game-high 33 points coming in the first half.
Castle followed with 11 points in the fourth quarter to bring the game home.
“I had an aggressive mindset to start out,” said Castle, who combined to shoot 11 of 33 in the first two games of the series but went 10 of 18 on Friday. “I wasn’t really settling too much. I kind of tried to pick my spots, and tried not to force it.”
Together, Castle and Harper became the NBA’s first pair of teammates 21 or younger to score at least 25 points apiece in a playoff game since Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook did it for Oklahoma City in a 2010 first-round series against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Harper finished 9 of 12 from the field, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range.
Carter Bryant, the Spurs’ other 20-year-old rookie, provided 23 minutes off the bench that were both solid and spectacular.
“We were working the game, working the game, and then at some point we had enough things going our way,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said. “Those two young men were leading the charge.”
To Castle, Friday’s comeback victory answered any lingering questions about the callow Spurs’ ability to handle playoff adversity.
“I feel like we’ve got a bunch of dogs on this team that aren’t going to quit,” Castle said.
In some cases, those dogs are still young pups.
With 5:02 remaining in the third quarter Friday, the Spurs trailed 82-67.
The Spurs’ pair of rookies had their fingerprints all over the comeback that turned the game and, possibly, the series.
Harper notched 22 of his points in the second half, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 8:51 remaining.
Moments after that, Harper drove for a baseline dunk over a closing Robert Williams III that had even Wembanyama in awe on the bench.
“Yeah, Wemby can’t believe it.”
— NBA (@ NBA) April 25, 2026
Bryant’s contributions were more subtle, save for his team-high three demonstrative blocked shots, but the Spurs likely don’t win the game without his physical perimeter defense and work on the boards.
“Obviously Dylan’s box score is loud,” Johnson said, “but I think Carter’s game was probably just as loud.”
Early in the season, Johnson would have rather swallowed a Fiesta cascarone whole than play both of his inexperienced rookies at the same time.
Harper, the No. 2 pick last summer’s draft, was clearly talented but had to learn the ropes of the NBA game.
Meanwhile, Bryant – the No. 14 pick out of Arizona – was “damn near unplayable” to use his own words.
“I knew what I was capable of,” Bryant said. “It was just a confidence thing.”
After Friday, Johnson should have no qualms about playing his two rookies together anymore.
“I thought those two young kids, they just played so aggressive and so fast and really set a tone for us,” Johnson said.
For Harper, a breakout performance in Game 3 was a lifetime in the making.
He is no longer a spectator to the NBA playoffs, and the Spurs are better off for it.
“I think in living up to this moment, I try not to put too much pressure on myself,” Harper said. “I just think of it as any other game. I go out and try to be assertive where ever I can, and not overthink what I do on the basketball court.”
Spurs guard Dylan Harper on his career-high scoring night in a Game 3 win against the Blazers: “The energy was kinda down, and when I came in the game, my biggest focus was not trying to get it all at once, but trying to be that energy guy that came in and played hard.” pic.twitter.com/mB56NVH3u8
— Spurs Nation (@ Spurs_Nation) April 25, 2026
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News