By Mike Finger | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-04-26 21:41:33
2026年4月26日，周日，在摩达中心举行的NBA季后赛首轮第四场比赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 和圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 在准备对阵波特兰开拓者队时拥抱。马刺队以114-93获胜，系列赛大比分3-1领先。
俄勒冈州波特兰——心疼一下可怜的米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 吧。他的出发点是好的，而且他有一课重要的内容要教。
但照这个势头下去，他的马刺队永远也学不会。
至少在这个系列赛中是学不会了。
“他们展现出了惊人的胆量，”约翰逊在圣安东尼奥马刺队周日于摩达中心以114-93击败开拓者队后说道。这个描述再贴切不过了，形容了这群球员如何不断地证明自己，并不断地推翻传统的执教智慧。
这些家伙的胆量大到，不断把自己挖进所谓的绝境，然后脸不红心不跳地跳出来。难道他们没意识到这在季后赛中是不该奏效的吗？
2026年4月26日，周日，在摩达中心举行的NBA季后赛首轮第四场对阵波特兰开拓者队的比赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫德阿隆·福克斯 (De’aaron Fox) 在第三节投进三分球后做出反应。
这些家伙的胆量大到，在他们第一次共同经历的季后赛客场之旅中，不断让主场观众陷入希望和庆祝的狂热中，然后突然发力将一切夺走。难道他们不知道这种打法有多少次会让一支强队自食其果吗？
这些家伙的胆量大到，始终认为他们的缺乏经验无关紧要。即便是在季后赛首轮第三场落后15分时，即便是在第四场落后19分时。难道他们没听进约翰逊一直以来的警告吗？
“你不能带着错误的态度轻敌入场，”约翰逊说道。
除非，你有足够的才华、足够的沉着和足够的胆量，即使轻敌入场也能赢下比赛。
马刺队就是这么做的，而且做了不止一次，带着3-1的系列赛领先优势从西北太平洋地区回到了德克萨斯州南部。
在周五的第三场比赛中，他们轻敌陷入了巨大的麻烦，两名新秀将他们带了出来。随着文班亚马在周日的第四场比赛中从脑震荡协议中复出，他们再次陷入了一个由自己造成的近乎崩盘的局面，但同样有一个转折：那些本该崩盘的年轻人？他们根本不知道自己陷入了麻烦。
2026年4月26日，周日，在摩达中心举行的NBA季后赛首轮第四场对阵波特兰开拓者队的比赛前，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle)（最左）和圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马（最右）与队友们一起欢呼。
“我不觉得比赛曾真正失去控制，”二年级后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 说道。尽管这话听起来很疯狂，但你很难说他是错的。
这就是本赛季这支马刺队的出色程度。这就是他们现在对自己拥有的信心。
当文班亚马在开赛前一小时才被获准通过NBA脑震荡协议，并投丢了前四次出手中的三次时，大家都只是耸了耸肩。当马刺队的替补阵容在第一节的某些时段看起来完全迷失时，这也没什么大不了。当开拓者在第二节末段以58-39领先时，现场的一些体育记者可能已经开始考虑几乎确定的重返波特兰参加第六场比赛的行程了。
但在马刺队眼中，唯一必然发生的事情就是他们知道即将到来的下半场反击。
果然，反击来了。它之所以到来，是因为德阿隆·福克斯贡献了马刺生涯中表现最好的比赛之一，砍下28分并送出7次助攻。它之所以到来，是因为文班亚马和卡斯尔打出了两人配合，轮流担任空接的传球者和终结者。它之所以到来，是因为瓦塞尔又打出了一个出色的第三节。
2026年4月26日，周日，在摩达中心举行的NBA季后赛首轮第四场比赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 在第二节防守波特兰开拓者队前锋德尼·阿夫迪亚 (Deni Avdija)。
它还源于这位身高7英尺4英寸的中锋认为的球队在每年的这个时候的一个关键优势。
“我们之间没有无谓的内耗，”文班亚马说道。
远在德克萨斯州的某个地方，蒂姆·邓肯 (Tim Duncan) 正在点头表示赞许，而这并不是他在这支新版马刺队身上感受到的唯一联系。
诚然，文班亚马和他的队友们要将自己的季后赛韧性与那支赢得过五次NBA总冠军的核心阵容相提并论，还有很长很长的路要走。
2026年4月26日，周日，在摩达中心举行的NBA季后赛首轮第四场比赛中。马刺队以114-93获胜，系列赛大比分3-1领先。
但在那些辉煌岁月里，马刺队始终明白一点——其他人也了解马刺队的一点——那就是他们几乎每晚都会给自己一个获胜的机会。无论他们在上半场看起来多么狼狈，无论对手看起来多么了解他们的套路。他们很少相信比赛失去了控制，无论有多少反面证据。
在像周日这样的日子里，你可以看到像文班亚马、卡斯尔、福克斯和瓦塞尔这样的球员也带着同样的姿态。你可以从那些实力处于下风的对手脸上感受到恐惧，因为他们意识到自己的领先优势并不安全。你可以感受到观众的恐慌，他们在等待马刺队的另一只靴子落地。
这是否意味着他们总能从周日那样的开局中脱身？当然不是。在这个季后赛中走得越远，反击就会变得越困难。总有一天，他们可能会在坑里陷得太深，以至于无法爬出来。
也许到那时，约翰逊一直试图教给马刺队关于慢热开局的教训才会深入人心。
但在此之前？他的年轻马刺队将继续相信他们足够优秀，无论如何都能继续赢下去。
这些家伙的胆量啊。他们可能真的是对的。
2026年4月26日，周日，在摩达中心举行的NBA季后赛首轮第四场比赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马（中）在第四节暂停期间与队友、圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔交流时满脸笑容。马刺队以114-93获胜，系列赛大比分3-1领先。
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 come back again this time with De’Aaron Fox
Spurs come back again this time with De’Aaron Fox
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama and San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell embrace as they prepare to take on the Portland Trail Blazers in Game 4 of a first-round NBA playoff series at Moda Center on Sunday, April 26, 2026. The Spurs won 114-93, leading the series 3-1.
PORTLAND, Ore. – Pity poor Mitch Johnson. His heart’s in the right place. And he has an important lesson to teach.
At this rate, though, his Spurs never are going to learn it.
Not in this series, at least.
“They’ve shown some tremendous gall,” Johnson said after San Antonio’s 114-93 victory over the Trail Blazers at Moda Center on Sunday, and that’s as apt of a description as any for what his players keep proving about themselves and disproving about conventional coaching wisdom.
The gall of these guys, to keep digging themselves into allegedly inescapable holes, only to hop out of them while barely breaking a sweat. Don’t they realize that shouldn’t work in the playoffs?
San Antonio Spurs guard De’aaron Fox (4) reacts after making a 3-pointer during the third quarter of Game 4 of a first-round NBA playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center on Sunday, April 26, 2026.
The gall of these guys, on their first postseason road trip together, to keep letting the home crowd get whipped into a frenzy of hope and celebration, only to flip a switch and snatch it all away. Don’t they know how often that approach can blow up in a good team’s face?
The gall of these guys, to keep thinking their inexperience doesn’t matter. Not even when they’re trailing by 15 points in Game 3 of a first-round playoff series. Not even when they’re down by 19 in Game 4. Haven’t they been listening to what Johnson keeps warning them about?
“You can’t tiptoe into a game with the wrong approach,” Johnson said.
Unless, that is, you have enough talent, enough poise and enough gall to tiptoe into a game and win it anyway.
That’s what the Spurs did, not once but twice, in bringing a 3-1 series lead back to South Texas from the Pacific Northwest.
In Game 3 on Friday, they tiptoed into a giant mess and two rookies carried them out of it. With Victor Wembanyama back from a concussion in Game 4 on Sunday, they tiptoed into yet another near meltdown of their own making, but again there was a catch: The youngsters who were supposedly melting down? They had no idea they were even in trouble.
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle, far left, and San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama, far right, cheer with their teammates as they prepare for Game 4 of a first-round NBA playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center on Sunday, April 26, 2026.
“I don’t feel like the game ever really got out of control,” second-year guard Stephon Castle said, and as crazy as that might have sounded, it was hard to tell him he was wrong.
That’s how good these Spurs have been this season. That’s how much confidence they have in themselves now.
When Wembanyama, cleared from the NBA’s concussion protocol just an hour before tipoff, missed three of his first four shots, everybody shrugged. When the Spurs bench looked completely lost for stretches of the first half, it was no big deal. When the Blazers took a 58-39 late in the second quarter, some of the sports writers in attendance might have started pondering a near-certain return trip to Portland for Game 6.
But in the Spurs’ eyes, the only inevitability was the second half rally they knew was coming.
And sure enough, it came. It came because De’Aaron Fox delivered one of the best performances of San Antonio career, pouring in 28 points to go with seven assists. It came because Wembanyama and Stephon Castle got their two-man game going, taking turns as alley-oop passers and finishers. It came because Devin Vassell had another big third quarter.
San Antonio Spurs guard Dylan Harper (2) guards Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija (8) during the second quarter of Game 4 of a first-round NBA playoff series at Moda Center on Sunday, April 26, 2026.
And it came because of something their 7-foot-4 center thinks is a key team strength this time of year.
“There is no useless drama between us,” Wembanyama said.
Somewhere back in Texas, Tim Duncan was nodding in approval, and it wasn’t the only connection he might have felt to this new version of the Spurs.
To be sure, Wembanyama and company have a long, long way to go before they even can think about comparing their playoff mettle to that of the core that won five NBA championships.
during the fourth quarter of Game 4 of a first-round NBA playoff series at Moda Center on Sunday, April 26, 2026. The Spurs won 114-93, leading the series 3-1.
But in those glory days, one thing the Spurs always knew – and one thing others knew about the Spurs – is that they were going to give themselves a chance to win almost every night. No matter how ugly they might have looked in a first half. No matter how much it looked like an opponent had their number. They seldom believed a game was out of their control, no matter how much evidence there was to the contrary.
And on days like Sunday, you can see guys like Wembanyama and Castle and Fox and Vassell carrying themselves the same way. You can sense the dread on the faces of an overmatched opponent that realizes its lead isn’t safe. You can feel the panic of a crowd waiting for the other Spurs shoe to drop.
Does that mean they’ll always get away with starts like Sunday’s? Of course not. The deeper they go this postseason, the harder the rallies will be to come by. Someday, they might tiptoe a little too far into a hole, and they won’t be able to make it out.
Maybe that’s when the lesson that Johnson’s been trying to teach the Spurs about slow starts will sink in.
But until then? His young Spurs will go on believing they’re good enough to keep winning anyway.
The gall of those guys. They just might be right.
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama, center, is all smiles as he talks to his teammate San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) during a fourth quarter timeout in Game 4 of a first-round NBA playoff series at Moda Center on Sunday, April 26, 2026. The Spurs won 114-93, leading the series 3-1.
By Mike Finger, via San Antonio Express-News