Spurs Insider Podcast, 2026-04-28 06:59:00
专栏作家迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger) 与随队记者杰夫·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald) 和汤姆·奥斯本 (Tom Orsborn) 共同探讨了圣安东尼奥马刺队在维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 因脑震荡保护协议缺阵一场的情况下，依然在系列赛中以 3-1 领先波特兰开拓者队。迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 和德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 等球员挺身而出，帮助圣安东尼奥在季后赛首轮占据主动。
推荐阅读：
以下是播客的文字记录：
迈克·芬格：这里是《马刺内幕》，我们正从太平洋西北地区高度机密的绝密地点网络为您播报。现在是季后赛第二周，首轮即将结束。我是迈克·芬格 (Mike Finger)，和我坐在一起的依然是《圣安东尼奥快报》的马刺随队记者汤姆·奥斯本 (Tom Orsborn) 和杰夫·“馄饨大盗”·麦克唐纳 (Jeff McDonald)。他搞得我太紧张了，我连他的绰号都念不顺。
汤姆·奥斯本：你说得对。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：准确地说，是猪肉馄饨。
汤姆·奥斯本：猪肉馄饨大盗？汤姆，这个绰号听起来可没那么响亮，但我认为任何名号都配得上杰夫·麦克唐纳。
迈克·芬格：我们要力求准确。除了他的那些小偷小摸，我们还有很多正事要聊。自从上次和《马刺内幕》的听众见面以来，圣安东尼奥马刺队经历了很多。他们因为脑震荡失去了文班亚马；由于脑震荡保护协议，他缺席了一场比赛。他在第四场比赛回归，而在这整个过程中，除了第二场比赛最后几分钟，他们似乎处理得相当不错。杰夫，他们回到了德克萨斯州南部，我们也回到了我们更熟悉的、安全的地点，系列赛基本上已经被这群圣安东尼奥球员掌控了。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：嗯，他们确实 3-1 领先，但你知道，不到赢下四场就不算结束。我不知道你清不清楚这一点。
迈克·芬格：我已经很久没报道过季后赛了。你需要帮我温习一下这些。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：但是，是的，几天前当他们在系列赛战平的情况下飞往波特兰时，他们此行有两个任务。一是无论如何要拿下一场胜利。你必须在波特兰赢下一场，才能把主场优势夺回来。第二个要达成的目标就是带着健康的、获准重返系列赛的文班亚马回来。他们两件事都办到了。事实上，他们超额完成了第一个任务，赢下了两场比赛，这可能超出了——我不知道该不该说是超出了他们的预期，但绝对超出了他们在客场系列赛中需要做到的。他们带着非常好的势头回到了圣安东尼奥。现在的比分是 3-1，你有三次机会终结对手。文班在接下来的比赛中都可以出战。系列赛重回正轨。我预测的“马刺五场晋级”依然有戏。
迈克·芬格：外面有些传言说，每当发生意外时，我们都应该给听众来点惊喜，搞个所谓的“紧急播客”。但这不符合我们的风格。上周当文班亚马在霜冻银行中心两次摔倒时，我们并没有觉得有必要把它变成紧急事件。汤姆，无论文班亚马打不打，马刺都能应付。在第三场比赛中，他们准备在很多球员的首场季后赛客场之旅中证明点什么，从德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 和凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 到在第三场比赛中扛起球队的新秀们。他们拿到了杰夫所说的在波特兰必须拿到的那场胜利，然后在周日又拿下一场。汤姆，大家还有什么好担心的？
汤姆·奥斯本：是的，这个播客就像马刺队一样：保持冷静，继续前进。你知道，这个周末真的突显了这支球队令人难以置信的深度。周五晚上，迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 砍下 27 分。斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 拿到 33 分。卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant) 也有贡献，瓦塞尔也表现出色。然后周日文班回来了，文班拿了 27 分，福克斯拿了 28 分，德文也有贡献。我的意思是，每晚都可以有不同的人站出来。他们的深度简直惊人。
迈克·芬格：杰夫，你得像往常一样泼点冷水。我相信你对水唯一的用处就是往我的热情上泼冷水。但你有没有感觉到——这种季后赛的感觉，就像你 10、15 年前报道过的那样，有一支球队可能在第一节或第二节没能掌控局面，但他们知道自己有能力赢，尤其是面对一个不如自己的对手时，他们不会像汤姆说的那样惊慌失措？他们会保持冷静，并最终找到赢球的方法，尽管这些家伙现在是新秀，尽管他们是季后赛的新手。看起来他们打球的方式就像他们以前经历过这些一样。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：在波特兰发生的这一切确实非常了不起。你知道，我们进入季后赛时都在讨论这支球队最重要的球员缺乏季后赛经验，他们会遇到逆境，以及他们在第一次季后赛之旅中会如何应对。我认为我们没法预料到逆境来得这么快，就在第二场。文班亚马因脑震荡缺阵，比赛失去了控制，你们输掉了第二场。然后你必须在没有他的情况下再次踏上客场，试图夺回主场优势。你在第三场落后了 15 分，然后逆转赢球。接着文班回归，你在第四场落后了 21 分，然后又逆转了。所以这支球队在以一种他们进入系列赛前无法预料的方式经历着季后赛的逆境，而他们基本上以优异的成绩通过了考验。这就是为什么他们在回到圣安东尼奥时掌控了系列赛的主动权。
迈克·芬格：谁——谁最让你——“惊喜”可能不是一个准确的词，但谁最引起了你的注意？谁在处理这种大场面时表现得最从容、最冷静、最沉稳，就像你刚才说的那样？
汤姆·奥斯本：“从容 (Aplomb)”是什么意思？
迈克·芬格：我不知道。我只是想吸引一下文学界的听众，我可能发错音了——是“a-plumb”吗？
汤姆·奥斯本：我不知道。
迈克·芬格：A plumb——波特兰这儿有很多李子 (Plums)。[笑声] 谁表现得很酷？谁在困难时期保持了真实？谁在互相照顾并保持真实？
汤姆·奥斯本：斯蒂芬·卡斯尔每一场都在那里，表现得非常果断、积极。
迈克·芬格：关于斯蒂芬·卡斯尔，我想说的一点是，在这个系列赛的每个上半场，他看起来就像是在乱扔球，好像他在常规赛做的那些东西在这里行不通。就像他一头扎进篮下，你会想，“哇，这家伙可能有点失控了”，然后你抬头一看，他完全掌控了比赛。我们并不是说这些从未经历过季后赛的球员不会做一些新秀才会做的蠢事，或者做一些让格雷格·波波维奇抓狂、已经让米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 有时想抓狂的事。但他们不会慌张。是的，这是波特兰开拓者队，西部第七，而且达米安·利拉德是在场边看球，他不在场上。他们还没遇到约基奇，还没遇到爱德华兹。他们可能永远都不会遇到约基奇或爱德华兹。俄克拉荷马城在等着。面对更好的球队，他们不能再像这样开局了。但对于很多球员的首个季后赛系列赛来说，到目前为止的表现真的令人印象深刻。
汤姆·奥斯本：是的，瓦塞尔一直非常稳。你知道，他已经接受了作为补充角色的定位。他知道自己的角色，而且表现得非常好。科内特在文班缺阵时首发出场，表现也很给力。是的，他们有不同的球员在不断做出贡献并保持稳定。还有哈珀。我的意思是，第三场打得太棒了。对那孩子来说，那是一场伟大的比赛。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：当你问谁——虽然你没用“惊喜”这个词，但你就是那个意思——谁在这些新手（正如你所说）中最让你印象深刻。在系列赛进行过程中，最让我印象深刻的是哈珀，因为他的第一场比赛打得并不好。我是说，他看起来就像个新秀。他看起来就像你预期的那样，一个新秀在首场季后赛中该有的样子。就像我当时说的，那是我几个月来见过他打得最犹豫的一次。然后到了第二场快结束时，我认为他开始搞清楚了一些事情，真正安定下来，意识到这只是另一场篮球赛，就像他这辈子一直在打的那样。然后他在第三场爆发了，有时他看起来是场上两队中最沉稳、最有经验的球员。所以对我来说，当你问谁在关键时刻挺身而出时，迪伦·哈珀在名单的前列。
迈克·芬格：正如更衣室里那些北卡、杜克和康大的校友们会一遍又一遍向哈珀指出的那样，他从未打过 NCAA 锦标赛。他不仅在本周之前没打过 NBA 季后赛，他甚至没打过重要的大学比赛。所以对他来说，这一切都是全新的。就像我们一周前在这个播客中讨论过的那样，他在 NBA 职业生涯初期也有过类似的快速进步。在达拉斯的第一晚，就像季后赛第一场一样，他有时看起来像只惊恐的小鹿。而到了常规赛第一周结束时，他已经带领马刺战胜了——我相信是主场对阵布鲁克林篮网队的比赛，哈珀在关键时刻包揽了所有表现。那次虽然没有这周这么受关注，但在学习曲线上有着类似的轨迹。就像他季后赛生涯的第一场看起来像个新秀，而到了第三场，他就像个老将，正如杰夫所说。他是那种能让人冷静下来的力量。对于马刺来说，当你的当家球星缺阵时，能求助于一个在年度最佳新秀投票中排名第四的家伙，这简直太奢侈了。如果你在季后赛一周后重新排名，他的位置可能会上升，因为他真的很厉害。
汤姆·奥斯本：还有另一个新秀，卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant) 在第三场表现也很出色。还有这位新手教练，你知道，他处理文班缺阵的情况处理得非常好，这与米奇在过去两年的表现一贯相符。他能很好地应对逆境。昨晚我问他，他们爆发了——“爆发”这个词甚至都不准确，用这个词来形容他们在下半场的表现简直是轻描淡写，太不可思议了。我问他中场休息时最大的调整是什么。他停顿了足足五秒钟，然后像你说的，迈克，他说了实话。他说没有任何调整，我们只是执行得更好了。
迈克·芬格：是的。没有任何过度反应。我想稍微缓和一下。并不是说没有调整，但没有那种“推倒重来”式的调整。
汤姆·奥斯本：是的，我是说，他说了实话，没有任何重大的策略改变。
迈克·芬格：还有一些微调，一些小的调整：让布莱恩特打更久，更多地使用那套小个阵容，让布莱恩特熬过一些困难时期。他在第三场刚上场时并没有马上投进球，有几次投篮很犹豫，早期投丢了一个，但米奇坚持用他，让他去防守德尼·阿夫迪亚 (Deni Avdija)，防守多诺万·克林根 (Donovan Clingan)。我想他还防过朱·霍勒迪 (Jrue Holiday)。他们对那个年轻人的要求很高。他并不是在数据单上大杀四方，但在第三场下半场的那次反击中，有些回合他投丢了球，然后自己抢下进攻篮板，点出来，为队友创造机会。就是这样的小事。如果你能从一个新秀身上得到这些，如果你能从一个被要求打小球五号位同时又要去防守控球后卫的球员身上得到这些，这对米奇·约翰逊来说又是另一种奢侈。
汤姆·奥斯本：是的，就像文班昨晚说的，这有点像他们的超能力。我是说，他们不在乎，你知道的。
迈克·芬格：没有无谓的戏剧性。
汤姆·奥斯本：是的，是的。这是他一如既往的精彩语录。你知道，他们现在都知道自己的角色，各司其职，做好自己的工作。这看起来挺有意思的。
迈克·芬格：昨晚半场结束时，你们是不是都已经订好了回这里的第六场比赛机票了？
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的，我当时正在网上看航班。我没订，但你总想看看如果你必须回来，会面临什么样的行程。但现在可能不需要了。我们热爱波特兰。
汤姆·奥斯本：我们热爱波特兰。这是一座美丽的城市。我们度过了美好的一天，但飞行时间太长了。如果周二去上班，周三不用起床赶飞机，那就太好了。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：是的，不用周三早上起床立刻登机。
汤姆·奥斯本：这次旅行非常愉快，非常愉快。
迈克·芬格：我要为波特兰说句好话，他们的商会在天气方面为圣安东尼奥的访客做得比圣安东尼奥商会上周为波特兰媒体做得好得多。上周圣安东尼奥发生了山洪，训练场外的 1604 号公路河水泛滥。波特兰铺好了红地毯——据我观察，波特兰好像从不下雨。据我了解，太平洋西北地区是一个整天阳光灿烂、美丽动人的地方，没有人会感到沮丧，也没有什么忧郁的情绪之类的。那真是个可爱的地方。
汤姆·奥斯本：唯一的负面体验是昨晚我和迈克走过那条河。我们过了河，沿着火车轨道走，等我回到酒店时，那火车的鸣笛声还在我耳边回响。
迈克·芬格：你觉得那些不停鸣笛的声音——那个火车司机一直按着喇叭——你觉得那是针对我们的吗？我觉得那是个开拓者球迷。他知道我们是报道马刺的。这次旅行还有另一件坏事，我们不打算深入讨论，但杰夫·麦克唐纳是个馄饨大盗。他是个厚颜无耻的馄饨大盗。我简直不敢相信他竟然有这种胆量、这种厚脸皮、这种神经，不仅当着我们的面，汤姆，还当着我们优秀的、屡获殊荣的摄影师的面做这种事，摄影师显然是这起罪行的有力证人。杰夫还是试图偷走馄饨。简直太过分了。但我们会挺过去的。我们会像马刺队应对逆境那样进行调整。你会吗？[笑声] 你甚至都不打算为自己辩护，因为根本无法辩护。总之，在这一切发生的同时，在马刺队相对轻松地解决波特兰开拓者队的同时，他们潜在的下一个对手都在经历磨难。当你从大局看时，是不是一切都在向有利于马刺的方向发展？因为在另一场对决中，一方面，明尼苏达森林狼队帮了马刺一个大忙，把尼古拉·约基奇 (Nikola Jokić) 逼到了绝境，他们看起来非常强大，而且从一些意想不到的球员那里得到了巨大的发挥。但另一方面，安东尼·爱德华兹 (Anthony Edwards) 显然因为膝伤将缺席可预见的未来，而丹特·迪文琴佐 (Donte DiVincenzo) 遭遇了跟腱撕裂。那边到底发生了什么？是不是一切都在向有利于马刺的方向发展？
汤姆·奥斯本：是的。我是说，明尼苏达在那个系列赛中领先优势很大，但正如你提到的，他们伤病非常严重。然后如果掘金队设法逆转——他们很有可能做到——他们也将经历一场艰苦的七场大战。所以无论如何，马刺队目前通往西部决赛的道路都很顺畅。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：他们首先需要从首轮中突围。还没结束呢。
迈克·芬格：我不是教练。我不需要做更衣室里那一套，说什么不能把任何事情当成理所当然。我知道你不想因为乌鸦嘴而不得不再次坐飞机回到太平洋西北地区。但马刺绝不可能——绝不可能连输三场给波特兰。我就是看不出这种可能性。人们会大喊大叫说，“噢，你个乌鸦嘴。”我的工作不是不当乌鸦嘴。我的工作是说大实话。说大实话就是，他们不会连输给波特兰三次。所以，我就点到为止。无论谁从丹佛或明尼苏达的系列赛中胜出，马刺都有可能输给他们。就像马刺在总决赛击败的 99 年尼克斯队一样，球队在失去超级巨星的情况下也能打出高潮。仅仅因为爱德华兹缺阵并不意味着明尼苏达会是个软柿子。仅仅因为约基奇在过去一周半里看起来变老了，并不意味着他在对阵马刺时不会重新找回青春泉水，他经常这么干。那可能会很艰难。但我认为我们可以展望一下未来。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：如果你是马刺球迷，想支持点什么，你应该支持明尼苏达尽快解决丹佛。我这么说是因为这能把丹佛这个障碍扫清，而且如果你能尽快结束自己的系列赛，你就有机会在爱德华兹复出之前开始第二轮。作为球迷，你是被允许这样想的。我知道球员们应该说，“我们想和全盛状态的对手较量。”但如果你是球迷，你只在乎结果，你当然更愿意面对没有爱德华兹的明尼苏达。所以你要尽力让那个系列赛尽快开始。那么爱德华兹缺阵的那——是两到四周还是一到两周？这会影响你的系列赛。如果我是马刺——如果我是马刺球迷，我就会支持这个。
迈克·芬格：这是一种看法。我认为我们讨论的可能只是几天之差。如果明尼苏达和丹佛打满七场，那就要到下周中，周二或周三才开始。如果他们能提前到这个周末。但正如你所说，杰夫，每一天都很重要，下一轮系列赛每早开始一天，就意味着可能少打一场有爱德华兹的比赛。所以这是个需要考虑的因素。还有什么大家想聊的吗？这周才刚刚开始，但我错过了什么吗？
杰夫·麦克唐纳：你错过了什么？我们聊遍了名单上的每个人，对吧？
迈克·芬格：昨天福克斯打了一场非常精彩的比赛。
汤姆·奥斯本：噢，是的。
迈克·芬格：在几场表现之后，有些人可能再次质疑球队薪水最高球员的关键球能力——在某种程度上，他被带到圣安东尼奥马刺队的原因之一，就是在明星球员状态不佳时挑起大梁，并作为一个随时待命的第二选择。是的，部分原因是为了和那位球员并肩作战，但你会认为第三场比赛是福克斯扮演领头羊的机会，马刺赢了那场球，但很大程度上是靠新秀哈珀赢的。在第四场比赛中，当文班亚马回归时，巅峰状态的福克斯也回归了，他的教练说这可能是他作为马刺球员表现最好的比赛之一。所以我认为第四场突破的另一个令人振奋的部分是，你看到了他的一些这种特质。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：这进一步证明了这支球队每晚都可能有不同的人站出来。我们进入第五场，福克斯可能又会打得相对低调，比如拿到 10 分 10 助攻 5 篮板。但如果发生了，也许卡斯尔会打出一场伟大的比赛，或者哈珀会打出一场伟大的比赛。所以我觉得通过每一场的技术统计来评判福克斯——他这里做得好，那里做得好——更多的是看他如何融入整体体系。即使他没有打出惊人的数据，他也影响了很多事情。他一直是很重要的一部分——我好像只是在对一小部分爱发牢骚的马刺球迷说话，但他一直是他们今年成就的重要组成部分，我认为他值得一些掌声。
汤姆·奥斯本：昨天的统计数据太惊人了。28 分，7 次助攻，6 个篮板，2 个盖帽。我的意思是，你还能要求什么呢？
迈克·芬格：3 个盖帽。29 分，14 次助攻。他可以做得更多，汤姆。[笑声] 给人家点功劳吧。
汤姆·奥斯本：好吧，回到我开始时说的话，深度太惊人了。我们还没提到朱利安 (Julian) 到处在做贡献，总会有那么一个晚上他会手感火热。凯尔登在进攻产出方面还没怎么听到消息，但他在其他领域做出了贡献。正如米奇·约翰逊所说，波特兰的高度影响了他在篮下的发挥。所以总会有一个晚上他会爆发。总之，深度惊人。
迈克·芬格：对凯尔登来说，波特兰是个艰难的对手。这就是为什么你看到了更多——比如布莱恩特得到了，特别是在第三场，分走了一些凯尔登的替补轮换时间。因为卡特能打大，能打小，能防守各个位置，你可以让他换防任何人。而且他开始做出聪明的决策，把球传到正确的位置。他对自己的三分投射也更有信心了。他在这个系列赛到目前为止投进了几个。如果你开始设想——我知道季后赛本质上不是关于未来的，但你开始看到他将如何成为马刺队未来更重要的一部分。我想这可以过渡到轮换阵容中被忽视最多的球员之一：哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes)。我认为季后赛中仍会有一个时刻，让他展示自己的季后赛经验。你知道，他以前投进过关键球，以前赢过总冠军。但你开始看到轮换阵容中前锋位置的交替——不是后卫，是前锋的交替，卡特被要求做得更多，而哈里森被要求做得更少。
汤姆·奥斯本：是的，但就像你说的，他会发声的。我保证。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：杰夫一直试图警告我们，这个系列赛还没结束。
迈克·芬格：我的意思是，他们要去波特兰，我知道他们要去。我只是不想让他们周三回来。
迈克·芬格：所以没有——我正试着以一种方式结束，把周二晚上在霜冻银行中心的比赛变成队史的关键时刻，如果他们不赢，一切都会出错，如果他们赢了，他们就会开启 NBA 的下一个大王朝。但基本上我们是在说，如果他们不赢——周二在霜冻银行中心输球的唯一坏处是你第二天早上得坐飞机。除此之外，马刺球迷完全不用担心。我认为这大概就是事实。
汤姆·奥斯本：这是事实，你知道，除非——敲敲木头——有人受伤或者发生什么意外。你有三场主场优势的系列赛，而且队里有文班亚马。你应该能很轻松地赢下这个系列赛。
迈克·芬格：他们正在这么做。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：快点搞定。
迈克·芬格：是的。我是说，这听起来很疯狂——也许是因为时差。我们度过了马刺历史上最精彩的一周，现在才过了 25 分钟，我就感觉要撞墙了。这是季后赛的瓶颈期吗，汤姆？
汤姆·奥斯本：他们撞上了斯库特·亨德森 (Scoot Henderson) 的墙。就是那样。第二场 31 分，昨晚一分未得，7 投 0 中。所以这有点像你，迈克，你知道，你在之前的播客中表现很强。你现在可能撞上了亨德森的墙。
迈克·芬格：我记得他那场 31 分的播客。那不一样。我和斯库特的另一个共同点是，一切似乎都在顺利进行，直到我张开大嘴，开始对一些能反击的人说些废话。过去几天，不止一名马刺球员主动提到，他们很享受第三场比赛中亨德森对年轻的哈珀说得太多，而哈珀做出了回应的那个时刻。就像，那是系列赛的转折点，亨德森从那个拿 31 分的斯库特变成了被新秀控卫教做人，而且从那以后就没翻过身来，因为亨德森在第四场打得很糟糕。那是本周有趣的一部分。还有第四场卡斯尔和阿夫迪亚之间的来回博弈，虽然赛后我们没得到太多关于那些脏话侮辱的确认，但我认为读唇语的人能指出其中一些。杰夫，到了那个地步，在那些旧的季后赛之旅中，人们开始互相厌烦。季后赛对手、报社同事，紧张局势升级，神经紧绷，而我们才刚刚结束第一轮。
杰夫·麦克唐纳：我只是很惊讶德尼居然知道我对你的昵称。
迈克·芬格：这一点也不好笑。你不应该——因为有些听众知道德尼是怎么称呼卡斯尔的，你绝不会沦落到说那种话的程度，尤其是对像《马刺内幕》播客主持人这样受人尊敬的人。这太过分了。这几乎和偷走整整一碗、整整一盆带辣椒油的猪肉馄饨一样过分，而且还是在这家伙建议之后——在这家伙建议说，“嘿，大家想吃家常菜风格（Family style）吗？为什么要各点各的？我们吃家常菜风格吧。”杰夫·麦克唐纳建议大家吃家常菜风格，然后我点的菜上来了，他直接从转盘上把它拿走，放在自己面前。汤姆，我说错了吗？
汤姆·奥斯本：那是神偷之作。我是说，动作太利索了——他几乎就成功了。
迈克·芬格：我们吃完了整顿饭，大家都在按杰夫的建议分享家常菜，然后我说，“你知道吗，他们一直没上我点的麻辣猪肉馄饨。”然后有人指出，“噢，那是杰夫从转盘上拿走并一个人吃光的那碗。”
汤姆·奥斯本：狼吞虎咽。是的。光天化日之下的抢劫。我们聊完了吗？
迈克·芬格：这就是为什么杰夫下周不想回波特兰的原因，因为他知道姆尔特诺默县有他的逮捕令，他不想最后进姆尔特诺默县监狱，那才是他该待的地方。我们要回来吗？
汤姆·奥斯本：很高兴见到我们的前同事丹·麦卡尼 (Dan McCarney)，向他致意。
迈克·芬格：向丹·麦卡尼致意。好人一个。以前参加过很多次马刺的季后赛之旅。底线是，我们要回来吗？汤姆·奥斯本？
汤姆·奥斯本：不。
迈克·芬格：不。
汤姆·奥斯本：我们不回来了。如果明尼苏达胜出，我们也准备去打西部决赛了。
迈克·芬格：哇。好吧。所以你是说——这是个劲爆的观点。谢谢，汤姆。在播客结束前我们需要再来一个。如果明尼苏达胜出，马刺就要进分区决赛了？
汤姆·奥斯本：如果爱德华兹不回来，是的。
迈克·芬格：哎呀，那可是有很多前提条件的。很多前提条件。所以你会认为明尼苏达是马刺应该支持的对手，尽管约基奇在这个系列赛的某些时刻看起来像 50 岁，但他对这支马刺来说仍然比森林狼队更难对付。
汤姆·奥斯本：你说得对，先生。
迈克·芬格：这是个非常合理的看法。杰夫，有什么——？
杰夫·麦克唐纳：这些年来，我见过约基奇对阵马刺时做了太多太多的事。噢，是的，毫无疑问。可能还有些创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD) 在里面。即使他现在看起来像 50 岁，他在那个系列赛中也会变回超人。如果可能的话，避开他。
迈克·芬格：我认为你们两个说得有道理，我们将以积极的态度结束。下周再见。如果周二有比赛，我们会在周一录制并发布。如果没有，我们就恢复原来的时间表。下次见，互相照顾，保持真实。
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：Rising to the occasion
Rising to the occasion
Columnist Mike Finger and beat reporters Jeff McDonald and Tom Orsborn discuss the Spurs taking a 3-1 series lead over the Portland Trail Blazers despite Victor Wembanyama missing a game due to concussion protocol. Players like Dylan Harper and De’Aaron Fox stepped up to help San Antonio take command in the first round of the playoffs.
Suggested reading:
How Spurs keep coming back, with lots of gall and ‘no useless drama’
Devin Vassell’s patient approach pays off with another big third quarter perform
Spurs star Victor Wembanyama 'disappointed" in concussion protocol return
3 Takeaways as Spurs take Game 4 in Wembanyama’s return
Spurs’ Stephon Castle, Blazers’ Deni Avdija offer differing views of dustup
Here is the transcript of the podcast:
Mike Finger: From a highly secured network of top secret locations in the Pacific Northwest, this is the Spurs Insider. It’s week two of the playoffs. It’s the end of the first round. I am Mike Finger, joined as always by San Antonio Express-News Spurs beat writers Tom Orsborn and Jeff “Bandit of Dumplings” McDonald. He has me so flustered, I can’t even get through his nickname.
Tom Orsborn: You got that right.
Jeff McDonald: Pork wontons, to be specific.
Tom Orsborn: Pork wonton bandit? That’s not—that doesn’t have the same kind of cachet to that nickname, Tom, but I think anything befits Jeff McDonald.
Mike Finger: Striving for accuracy. We have so much to get to besides his petty thefts. The San Antonio Spurs went through a lot of it since we last met the Spurs Insider listeners. They lost Victor Wembanyama to a concussion. They had him sit out a game under concussion protocol. They brought him back for game four, and through it all, they seemed to handle business pretty well outside of a few minutes at the end of game two. And Jeff, they return to South Texas, we return back bound for our more familiar secure locations with this series pretty much in hand for the local cagers.
Jeff McDonald: Well, they do have the 3-1 lead, but, you know, it’s not over till you win four. I don’t know if you know that.
Mike Finger: I haven’t covered the playoffs in a long time. You need to give me refreshers on all this.
Jeff McDonald: But yeah, coming back from, you know, when they boarded the flight to Portland in a tied series a few days ago, they really came here with two jobs on the to-do list. One was to get one win somehow. Just you had to win one game in Portland to get home-court advantage back on your side. And the second box to check was just come back with Victor Wembanyama healthy and cleared and ready to rejoin the series. And they accomplished both of those things. And in fact, they accomplished the first thing twice and won both the games, probably surpassed—I don’t know if you want to say their expectations, but what they needed to do in the road portion of the series. And they come back to San Antonio in pretty good shape. You know, up 3-1, you’ve got three chances to close them out. You’ll have Victor available for all of them. Your series is back on track. And my prediction of Spurs in five stays alive.
Mike Finger: There was some talk out there that we needed to spoil the listeners with, like an anytime something unexpected happens, to do what they call the emergency pod. But that’s just—that’s just not the brand. And we didn’t see last week when Victor Wembanyama falls twice off his face at Frost Bank Center. Like, there’s no need to turn that into an emergency. Tom, the Spurs had it handled whether Victor Wembanyama played or not. In game three, they were ready to prove something in their first playoff road game for a lot of those guys, from Devon Vassell and Keldon Johnson all the way down to the rookies who carried them in game three. They got the one victory that Jeff said they needed in Portland, and then they got another one on Sunday. What was anybody worried about, Tom?
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, this podcast is much like the Spurs. Keep calm and carry on. And you know, the weekend just really underscored the depth, the incredible depth of this team. Friday night, Dylan Harper, you know, 27 points. Stephon Castle 33 points. Carter Bryant chipping in, Devon Vassell chipping in. And then we get Wemby back on Sunday. Wemby’s got 27. Fox has 28. Devon’s chipping in. I mean, every night it can be someone different. They’ve just got incredible depth.
Mike Finger: And they have Jeff—you’ve got to pour some cold water, as you’re so wont to do. It’s the only thing you do with water, I believe, is to pour cold water on my enthusiasm. But do you get—is—do you get any sense of the playoff games that you used to cover 10, 15 years ago, where there was a team that might not be in control in the first quarter, second quarter, but kind of knew that it had what it took, especially against an opponent that wasn’t as good as them, that they weren’t going to, as Tom said, panic? They were going to keep calm and they were going to find a way to be there in the end, even though these are rookies now, even though these are playoff neophytes. It seems like they’re playing like they’ve been here before.
Jeff McDonald: It really has been a remarkable turn of events out here in Portland. You know, we all came into the playoff series talking about how little playoff experience that most important players on this team had and how they’re going to run into adversity and how are they going to handle that in their first playoff run. And I don’t think we could have predicted right off the bat, like game two, here comes the adversity. Victor Wembanyama is out with a concussion. The game’s getting away from you and you lose game two. And you go on the road having to play without him again and try to salvage home-court advantage. And you fall behind by 15 in that game three and come back and win that one. And then you get Victor back and you fall down by 21 in game four and you come back. And so this team is getting a lot of practice with playoff adversity in ways they couldn’t have predicted coming into the series, and they’re passing them with flying colors basically. And that’s why they’re in control of the series going back to San Antonio.
Mike Finger: Who did—who is—“surprise” is probably the wrong word, but who has grabbed your attention the most in terms of a guy who has handled this stage with aplomb and with calmness and with poise and with what you’re speaking of?
Tom Orsborn: What does aplomb mean?
Mike Finger: I don’t know. I was trying to bring in the literary crowd, and I might have mispronounced—is it “a-plumb”?
Tom Orsborn: I don’t know.
Mike Finger: A plumb—a lot of plums up here in Portland. [laughter] Who was cool with it? Who kept it real during the tough times? Who took care of each other and kept it real?
Tom Orsborn: Stephon Castle’s been there, you know, every game, assertive, aggressive, you know.
Mike Finger: One thing I’ll say about Stephon Castle is that every first half of this series, it looks like he’s just throwing the ball around like maybe this stuff that he did during the regular season might not work. Like he’s going headlong towards the basket and you think, “Wow, this guy might be a little out of control,” and then you look up and just his—he’s in complete control of the game. We’re not saying that these guys who’ve never been here before don’t do rookie stuff and don’t do stuff that would have made, like, Gregg Popovich pull his hair out and already has Mitch Johnson wanting to pull his hair out at times. But they don’t get flustered. And yes, this is the Portland Trail Blazers, the seven seed, playing without, like, Damian Lillard is watching from the sideline. He isn’t in the game. They haven’t met Jokić yet. They haven’t met Ant Edwards yet. They might never meet Jokić or Ant Edwards. OKC is waiting. They won’t be able to get away with the same kind of starts against better teams. But for a first playoff series for a lot of these guys, really impressed so far.
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, Vassell’s been incredibly steady. You know, he has embraced that complimentary piece. He knows his role, he’s been very good in it. Kornet came up big coming off the bench to start in place of Wemby. You know, yeah, they’ve just got different guys that are just chipping in and being steady and yeah. And then Harper. I mean, what a game, game three. What a game for that guy. Kid.
Jeff McDonald: When you ask the guy who—and you didn’t use the word “surprise,” but that’s kind of what you meant—like, who’s impressed you the most of these neophytes, as you say. Who’s impressed me the most figuring it out as the series went along was Harper, because his game one was not great. I mean, he looked like a rookie. He looked like probably you would expect a rookie in his first playoff game to look. Like I said at the time, it was the most tentative I had seen that guy in months. And then towards the end of game two, I think he started to figure some things out and really settle down, settle in, sort of realize that it’s just another basketball game like he’s been playing his whole life. And then you had that game three explosion where he looked at times like the most poised, most experienced player on the floor for either team. So to me, as you’re asking like who’s risen to the moment, Dylan Harper’s high on that list.
Mike Finger: As the North Carolina and Duke and UConn alums in that locker room will point out to Dylan Harper over and over and over again, he never played in the NCAA tournament. He didn’t—not only did he not play in the NBA playoffs before this week, he didn’t play in important college games. So he is new to this. And as we talked about on this podcast one week ago, he had a similar quick improvement to start his NBA career. There was the first night in Dallas where, much like game one of the playoffs, he looked like a deer in the headlights at times. And by the end of that first week of the regular season, he was carrying the Spurs to a victory over the, I believe, the Brooklyn Nets at home where Dylan Harper made all the plays down the stretch. And that wasn’t as high-profile as this past week, but it was a similar trajectory on his learning curve. It was like the first game of his playoff career he looked like a rookie, and by game three he was the veteran, as Jeff said. He was the calming influence. And what a luxury for the Spurs to have, to have your franchise player out and to turn to a guy who finished, what, fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting, who if you re-ranked it after one week of the playoffs, might move up in that list? Because he’s really good.
Tom Orsborn: And the other rookie, the other rookie, Carter Bryant was big in game three. And the neophyte coach, you know, he handled Wemby being out really well, which that’s been very consistent with Mitch throughout, you know, throughout the last two years. He handles adversity well. And then it was great—I asked him last night, you know, they exploded. “Exploded” isn’t even the right word. I mean, it’s underselling it what they did in the second half was incredible. I asked him what was your biggest adjustment at halftime. He paused for a good five seconds, and then he kept it real, as you say, Mike. Said there were no adjustments. We just executed better.
Mike Finger: Yeah. There’s been no overreaction. I want to kind of temper this. It’s not like there haven’t been adjustments. But there hasn’t been a throw-the-baby-out-with-the-bathwater type of adjustment. So we’re going to start all over again.
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, I mean, he kept it real, you know. There wasn’t any big strategy changes.
Mike Finger: And the little changes, the little adjustments: playing Carter Bryant more, going with that small lineup more, letting Carter Bryant weather some stuff where he came into game three and he was not making shots right away. He was tentative on a couple shots, he missed one early, and Mitch stuck with him, having him guard Deni Avdija, having him guard Donovan Clingan. I think he spent time on Jrue Holiday. Like, they’re asking a lot of that youngster. And it’s not like he’s lighting up the stat sheet. But there were plays in that second half run in game three where he’d miss a shot, go get his own rebound, tip it out, and set somebody else up. Just little stuff like that. If you can get that from a rookie and if you can get that from a guy who you’re asking to play small ball five and guard point guards all at the same time, that’s a pretty nice luxury again for Mitch Johnson.
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, like Wemby said last night, it’s kind of their superpower. I mean, they don’t care, you know.
Mike Finger: No useless drama.
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, yeah. It was a great quote, as always, from him. You know, they just all know their roles right now and they’re staying in their lanes, they do their jobs. It’s pretty—pretty fun to watch.
Mike Finger: Were you guys all but booking your trip back here for game six at around halftime last night?
Jeff McDonald: Yes, I was on the interwebs looking at flights. I did not book anything, but you just kind of want to see what you’re going to be stuck with when you have to come back here. But might not have to now. And we love Portland.
Tom Orsborn: We love Portland. It’s a beautiful city. We had a beautiful day, but it’s a long flight. It would be fun to not—like to go to work Tuesday and to not have to get up on Wednesday.
Jeff McDonald: Yes, and not have to get up Wednesday morning and board a flight immediately.
Tom Orsborn: Very nice, very nice trip here. Very nice.
Mike Finger: I will say for Portland, their Chamber of Commerce did a much better job for the San Antonio visitors weather-wise than the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce did with the traveling Portland media last week with the flash floods and the river over 1604 right outside the practice facility. Portland laid out the red carpet for—I don’t think it ever rains in Portland from what I see. I think that from what I understand, the Pacific Northwest is a region where it’s sunshiny and beautiful all day and no one is ever depressed and there’s no kind of emo or anything stuff like that. It’s just—it’s just a lovely place.
Tom Orsborn: Only negative was walking across the river last night, me and Mike. We got across the river, we’re bordering the train tracks, and my ears were still ringing when I got back to the hotel from that train.
Mike Finger: You think those incessant—what, the horns on the train that that guy, the engineer was just laying on the horn—do you think that was directed at us? I think it was a Blazers fan. He knew we covered the Spurs. There was one other bad thing about this trip, which we’re not going to get into too much, but Jeff McDonald is a dumpling thief. He’s a brazen dumpling thief. I cannot believe that he had the audacity, the gall, the nerve to do this in front not only of us, Tom, but our fine, award-winning photographer who obviously would make a great witness in this crime. And Jeff tried to steal dumplings anyway. Outrageous. But we’ll get over it. We’ll adjust the way the Spurs did to their adversity. Will you? [laughter] You’re not even going to defend yourself because there is no defense. Anyway, while all this is going down, while the Spurs are making relatively quick work of the Portland Trail Blazers, their potential next opponents are both going through it. Is everything falling into place for the Spurs when you look big picture-wise? Because in that other matchup, on one hand, the Minnesota Timberwolves are doing the Spurs a huge favor by putting Nikola Jokić on the ropes, and they look really formidable and they’re getting huge performances from guys they didn’t expect to get performances from. But on the other hand, Anthony Edwards apparently is out for the foreseeable future with a knee injury, and Donte DiVincenzo tore his Achilles. So what’s going on over there? Is everything falling into place for the Spurs?
Tom Orsborn: Yes. Yeah, I mean, Minnesota’s—they’ve got a pretty good lead in that series, but as you mentioned, they’re terribly banged up. And then if the Nuggets somehow come back—and they very well could—they’re going to be, you know, coming off a hard-fought seven-game series. So either way, the Spurs have a good path right now to the Western Conference Finals.
Jeff McDonald: They just need to get out of the first round first. It’s not over yet.
Mike Finger: I’m not a coach. I don’t have to do the locker room thing where you don’t take anything for granted. I know you don’t want to jinx the having to get on a plane again and come back to the Pacific Northwest. But there’s no way—there’s no way the Spurs lose three games in a row to Portland. I just don’t see it. And people are going to yell and say, “Oh, you jinxed it.” It’s not my job not to jinx it. It’s my job to keep it real. And keeping it real, they’re not going to lose three times in a row to Portland. So yeah, I’ll just leave it at that. And they could lose either of those series to Denver or Minnesota, no matter who comes out of it. Like, it goes back to the '99 Knicks that the Spurs beat in the finals, that teams can make runs without their superstar. Just because Anthony Edwards is out doesn’t mean Minnesota is going to be a pushover. Just because Nikola Jokić looks like he became old in the past week and a half doesn’t mean he’s not going to rediscover the fountain of youth against the Spurs, which he often does. That could be tough. But I think it’s okay for us to sort of look ahead.
Jeff McDonald: If you’re a Spurs fan and want to root for something, you should root for Minnesota to close out Denver as soon as possible. And I say that because it gets Denver out of the way, and it gives you a chance, if you close your own series as soon as possible, to start the second round before Anthony Edwards can get up and going. And as fans, you’re allowed to root for that. I know players are supposed to say, “We want to play the other team at full strength.” But if you’re fans and all you care about is the results and outcome, of course you would rather face Minnesota without Anthony Edwards. So you do your best to get that series started ASAP. So those—what was it, two to four weeks or one to two weeks Ant is out? You know, that affects your series. That’s what I would do if I was the Spurs—that’s what I’d be rooting for if I was a Spurs fan.
Mike Finger: That’s one way to look at it. And I think we’re talking about a difference of maybe a couple days either way. Like, if the series—if Minnesota and Denver go all the way to seven, it’d be starting the middle of next week, Tuesday or Wednesday. And if they could move it up to this weekend. But it could be, to your point, Jeff, every day counts, and every day that that next series starts sooner means one potential fewer date against Ant. So that is a factor to consider. Anything else that y’all wanted to get to? We’ve barely begun this week, but what have I missed?
Jeff McDonald: What have you missed? We talked about everybody on the roster, right?
Mike Finger: There was a pretty good De’Aaron Fox game yesterday.
Tom Orsborn: Oh yeah.
Mike Finger: And after a couple of performances where some might have been questioning, again, the clutch nature of the team’s highest-paid player—like, in a way, one of the reasons why he was brought to the San Antonio Spurs was to pick up the slack when the star player couldn’t and to have that second option always ready to go. And yes, part of it was to play alongside that player, but you would have thought that a game three was a chance for De’Aaron Fox to play alpha dog, and the Spurs won that game, but they won that game largely due to the rookie Dylan Harper. In game four, when Victor Wembanyama returned, so did peak De’Aaron Fox, who his coach said might have had one of his best performances as a Spur. So I think that was another encouraging part of the game four breakthrough was you got to see a little of that from him.
Jeff McDonald: And it’s just more proof positive that it’s going to be a different person on—it could be a different person on every night for this team. And we can go into game five and Fox goes back to having a relatively quiet, you know, 10 and 10 and 5. But if that happens, maybe Stephon Castle has a big game or maybe Dylan Harper has a big game. So I think judging Fox by each individual box score and he did good here, he did—it’s more about how he fits into the overall scheme of things. And even when he’s not putting up huge numbers, he’s affecting a lot of things out there. He’s been a big part—I mean, it seems like I’m only talking to a certain segment of Spurs fans here that are grouchy, but he’s been a big part of what they’ve done this year and I think he deserves some flowers for that.
Tom Orsborn: Incredible stat line yesterday. 28 points, seven assists, six rebounds, two blocks. I mean, what more can you ask for?
Mike Finger: Three blocks. 29 points, 14 assists. He could do more, Tom. [laughter] Give the guy his credit.
Tom Orsborn: Well, to come back full circle from where I started, the depth’s incredible. We still haven’t heard, Julian’s chipping in here and there, but there’s going to be a night where he’s going to get hot. Still haven’t heard very much from Keldon in terms of offensive production, but he’s chipping in in other areas. And as Mitch Johnson said, Portland’s length is kind of affecting him for what he does at the rim. So there’s going to be a night when he goes off. So just incredible depth.
Mike Finger: Been tough—this is a Portland’s a tough matchup for Keldon. And that’s why you’ve seen a little more—like, Carter Bryant is getting, especially in game three, a little of that Keldon rotation off the bench. And because Carter can play big, he can play small, he can defend all over the place, you can switch him on to anybody. And he’s starting to make smart plays, move the ball to the right place. He’s a little more confident with that three-point stroke. He hit a couple of those in this series so far. And if you start envisioning—I know the playoffs aren’t about the future per se, but you’re starting to see how he is going to be a much bigger part of Spurs teams moving forward. And I guess that’s a way to transition into one of the guys—maybe the guy in the rotation who’s been overshadowed the most is Harrison Barnes. I think there’s still going to be a moment in the playoffs when he gets to show some of his playoff experience. You know, he’s hit big shots before, he’s won championships before. But you’re starting to see the changing of the guard a little—not the guard, the changing of the forward a little bit in the rotation where Carter is being asked to do more, Harrison’s being asked to do less.
Tom Orsborn: Yeah, but like you said, he’ll be heard from. I guarantee it.
Mike Finger: Jeff keeps trying to warn us that this series is not over.
Jeff McDonald: I mean, they’re going to Portland, I know they are. I just don’t want them to come back on Wednesday.
Mike Finger: So there’s no—I’m trying to end this in a way where we’re going to make Tuesday night’s game at Frost Bank Center into the pivotal moment in franchise history, where if they don’t win it, everything could go wrong, and if they do win it, then they’re going to go on to the next big dynasty in the NBA. But basically we’re saying if they don’t—the only downside of a loss Tuesday at the Frost Bank Center is you have to get on a plane the next morning. And other than that, Spurs fans should not worry about it at all. I think that’s probably the truth.
Tom Orsborn: It’s the truth, you know, barring—knock on wood—someone gets hurt or some, but you know. You’ve got a three-game series with home-court advantage and Victor Wembanyama on your team. Like, you should be able to win that series pretty handily.
Mike Finger: Which they’re doing.
Jeff McDonald: Do it quickly.
Mike Finger: Yeah. I mean, it sounds crazy to be—maybe it’s because of the time change. We got through one of the most eventful weeks in Spurs history and it’s 25 minutes in and I’m hitting a wall. Is it the playoff wall, Tom?
Tom Orsborn: They’re hitting the Scoot Henderson wall. There you go. 31 points in game two, zip last night, 0 for 7. So it’s kind of like you, Mike, you know, you were really strong in previous podcasts. You may be hitting the Scoot Henderson wall right now.
Mike Finger: I remember his 31-point podcast. That was different. Another thing I have in common with Scoot is everything seemed to be going along swimmingly until I opened my big fat mouth and started talking some nonsense to some people who could do something about it. And there’s been multiple Spurs players who brought up kind of unsolicited over the last couple of days the way they enjoyed the moment in game three when Scoot said a little too much to young Dylan Harper and Dylan Harper had a response. Like, that’s a series-changing moment is when Scoot goes from that 31-point Scoot to just getting schooled by the rookie point guard and it hasn’t flipped back since, because Scoot had a horrible game in game four. And that was an amusing part of this week. The Stephon Castle-Deni Avdija back and forth in game four where we didn’t get a lot of post-game confirmation of the expletives insults used, but I think lip readers could point some of them out. Getting to that point, Jeff, in the old—on those old playoff runs where people started getting sick of each other. Playoff opponents, newspaper colleagues, tensions running high, nerves running raw, and we’re only at the end of round one.
Jeff McDonald: I was just surprised that Deni knew my nickname for you.
Mike Finger: That’s not funny. You should not—because some of the listeners out there know what Deni called Stephon Castle and you would never stoop to such levels as to say that sort of thing, especially about someone as respected as the host of the Spurs Insider podcast. That is outrageous. It’s almost as outrageous as just thieving a whole block, whole bowl of wontons, pork wontons with chili sauce after suggesting—after this guy suggested, “Hey, do y’all want to do it family style? Why are we all ordering our own dishes? Let’s do it family style.” Jeff McDonald suggests let’s all order family style, and then my dish that I ordered comes and he takes it off the lazy Susan and puts it in front of himself. Tom, am I wrong?
Tom Orsborn: It was a masterstroke in thievery. I mean, it was so—and he almost pulled it off.
Mike Finger: We got through an entire meal, everyone’s sharing family style as Jeff suggested, and I said, “You know, they never brought my spicy pork wontons.” And I think it was pointed out, “Oh, that’s the bowl that Jeff removed from the lazy Susan and consumed entirely himself.”
Tom Orsborn: Scarfed. Yeah. Brazen daylight robbery. Are we done here?
Mike Finger: That’s why Jeff does not want to come back to Portland next week, because he knows there’s a warrant out for his arrest in Multnomah County and he doesn’t want to end up in the Multnomah County Jail, which is where he belongs. Are we coming back?
Tom Orsborn: It was good seeing our former colleague Dan McCarney, just a shout out to him.
Mike Finger: Shout out to Dan McCarney. Good people. Been on many a Spurs playoff trip in the past. Are we coming back, bottom line? Tom Orsborn?
Tom Orsborn: No.
Mike Finger: No.
Tom Orsborn: We’re not coming back. If Minnesota emerges, we’re headed to the Western Conference Finals too.
Mike Finger: Wow. Okay. So you’re saying—that’s the hot take. Thanks, Tom. We needed one more before the end of the podcast. If Minnesota emerges, the Spurs are going to the conference finals?
Tom Orsborn: If Edwards does not come back, yes.
Mike Finger: Well now, that’s a lot of ifs. That’s a lot of ifs. So you would argue that Minnesota is the opponent that the Spurs should be rooting for and even though Nikola Jokić looked 50 years old at points during this series, that he’s still a more formidable opponent for these Spurs than the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Tom Orsborn: You are correct, sir.
Mike Finger: That’s a very reasonable take. Jeff, any—?
Jeff McDonald: I’ve seen Jokić just do way too much against the Spurs over the years. Oh yeah, no question. Like there’s some PTSD involved, probably. Even if he looks 50 now, he’s going to morph back into Superman in that series. Avoid if possible.
Mike Finger: I think you both are onto something and we’re going to end that on a positive note. We will see everybody next week again. If there’s games on Tuesdays, we will record and release on Mondays. If not, we’re back to our old schedule. And until next time, take care of each other and keep it real.