By Jared Weiss | The Athletic, 2026-05-05 10:40:45
圣安东尼奥 — 圣安东尼奥马刺队终于感受到了现实的残酷。警钟终究会敲响，这是不可避免的。这并非那种“维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 缺阵且球队表现不稳定”的情况。不，这是一场“文班亚马也无法总是拯救球队”的比赛。
在周一进行的西部半决赛第一场比赛中，文班亚马创下 NBA 季后赛纪录的 12 次封盖还远远不够。明尼苏达森林狼队最终意识到，即使特伦斯·香农 (Terrence Shannon Jr.) 告诉文班亚马他会继续冲击篮下，但在每个回合都试图在他头顶投篮是行不通的。因此，他们找到了方法，将他推向他们想要的位置，并让他远离他不该出现的地方。
马刺队离胜利如此之近，差距仅在于朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie) 在终场哨响时投丢了一个大空位三分。他们以 104-102 输给了一支经验丰富的球队，这支球队拥有一群身材高大且防守凶悍的球员，他们以此为生，专门锁死联盟中最顶尖的球员。明尼苏达拥有一种在季后赛深远征程的战火中锻造出来的特质。
赢得首轮系列赛通常意味着高顺位种子的天赋优势可以掩盖一切。但在目前的西部，至少在这个阶段，情况并非如此。
本赛季马刺和森林狼的区别在于数月以来的稳定性。但季后赛系列赛在相对极短的时间内就会决出胜负，仅仅是一两周内两支球队的激烈碰撞。他们必须在现在展现出最好的状态，而森林狼对自己的身份定位没有任何疑问。他们的所有核心球员都有着丰富的季后赛经验。而大多数马刺球员才刚刚开始尝试，这在第一场比赛中表现得淋漓尽致。
“比赛就这样一闪而过，这不太好，”文班亚马说道，“这意味着我没有像我希望的那样掌控比赛。”
森林狼队的构建方式与众不同。他们更高、更强、更凶猛。针对他们的比赛计划要复杂得多，这让马刺队在半场阵地进攻中脱离了舒适区。森林狼的整个防守体系都在密谋阻止文班亚马通过提早包夹罚球线来冲击篮下。朱利乌斯·兰德尔 (Julius Randle) 在进攻端化身为领先的掩护者，在关键时刻将他挤开。
明尼苏达有很多策略，而且很多都奏效了，这给了他们足够的优势来守住胜果。马刺在最后时刻紧追不舍，主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 在最后一回合不叫暂停的赌博收到了回报，球队最好的射手尚帕尼获得了一个梦幻般的出手机会，可惜球砸在了篮筐上。马刺在最后一分钟做了他们该做的事情：文班攻击篮筐，尚帕尼冲抢篮板，迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 完成了一个拯救比赛的抢断。只是在第四节末段节奏加快时，他们没能保持同样水平的掌控力。
这是文班亚马本赛季第一次出场时间超过 40 分钟（他曾有两场比赛出场约 39 分钟，四舍五入后接近 40 分钟），他承认在三分球 8 投 0 中后，体能管理是他进攻端挣扎的一个因素。这不仅是因为他有时失去了节奏，还因为他把精力用在了效率较低的方向上。
“我觉得我必须利用好我的能量，”文班亚马说，“显然，我在球场的一端消耗了大量精力，而在进攻端，我在一些对球队没有太大帮助的事情上浪费了太多能量。所以这是我的责任。但首要任务是，我得开始把球投进。”
文班亚马开始列举马刺队的各种问题，从他感觉状态不佳到球队的进攻核心需要表现得更好。
“所以基本上，如果一切都不同，结果就会不同，”文班亚马说。
他说失利是他的责任。随后，达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 出来也对自己说了同样的话。他对此直言不讳，仿佛这是显而易见的事实。
“是我不好，”福克斯说道，“非受迫性失误，投篮不中，这其实和他们的防守关系不大。他们是一支优秀的防守球队。但我认为这场比赛，责任在我。”
福克斯全场 14 投 5 中，三分球 4 投 0 中，他知道如果他不找回手感，马刺就无法晋级。他在对阵波特兰开拓者队的首轮比赛中起步缓慢，随后在马刺队接近晋级时接管了比赛。在接下来的对阵森林狼的比赛中，他需要做同样的事情。
尽管他一直是球队的核心老将之一——哈珀在福克斯赛后发言时还喊他“老舅 (Unc)”——但对他来说，这同样是未知的领域。上周也是他第一次赢得季后赛系列赛。马刺队所依赖的所有进攻创造者此前都没有在五月份打过球，而这是比赛中最难学习的事情。
安东尼·爱德华兹 (Anthony Edwards) 已经证明了他能做到这一点。当被要求将他现在的感受与他处于马刺年轻球员相同位置时（当时他也在季后赛首秀中试图在强硬的对手面前寻找自我）进行比较时，他谨慎地避开了这个问题，就像他准备拔起投三分一样。
“我觉得那个问题是在给他们答案，”爱德华兹说，“这是一个有点奇怪的问题，因为如果我回答了，他们会看到并想，‘哦，我们需要这样做。’所以我不能真正回答。”
他是对的。森林狼现在拥有的微弱优势可能瞬间消失，在季后赛中，每一分优势都至关重要。现在已经没有多少天赋差距了。每个人的天赋都大致相当。区别在于执行力、韧性和运气。
文班亚马被问及在失利中是否有什么积极的一面，因为他知道他的球队离胜利有多近。这个成语对他来说翻译得并不自然，但这反而更好。
“我不知道‘一线生机’是什么意思，但显然，我们必须做得更好，”文班亚马说，“这体现在统计表上，但我们需要在 48 小时内弄清楚我们可以做得更好的地方，我毫不怀疑我们会做到的。我信任我们。”
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：Victor Wembanyama blocked his way to a record but couldn't quite save the Spurs
Victor Wembanyama blocked his way to a record but couldn’t quite save the Spurs
SAN ANTONIO — Things just got real for the San Antonio Spurs. A wake-up call was going to come eventually. It was inevitable. Not one of those Victor-Wembanyama-is-out-and-he’s-not-always-a-given kind of things. No. This was a Wembanyama-can’t-always-save-them game.
Wembanyama’s NBA playoff record 12 blocks weren’t enough in Monday’s Game 1 of the Western Conference semifinals. The Minnesota Timberwolves eventually realized trying to shoot over him every possession wouldn’t work, even if Terrence Shannon Jr. told Wembanyama he would keep going at him. So they found ways to push him where they wanted him and keep him from where they didn’t.
The Spurs were so close, the margin coming down to Julian Champagnie missing a wide-open 3 at the buzzer. They lost 104-102 to a team that’s done this before, with a roster full of lengthy and nasty defenders who have made a living taking down the best players in the game. Minnesota has an identity that was forged in the fire of deep playoff runs.
Winning a first-round series usually entails the higher seed’s talent advantage blanketing everything. That doesn’t really happen at this stage, at least in today’s West.
The difference between the Spurs and Wolves this season was consistency over stretches of months. But playoff series go down in a relative instant, just a week or two of a pair of teams ramming at each other. Their best has to show up now, and the Wolves don’t have any question about their identity. All their key guys have plenty of postseason experience. Most of the Spurs are just getting their feet wet, and it showed in Game 1.
“It just went by like this, and that’s not good,” Wembanyama said. “It means I didn’t have the grasp on the game that I wish I did.”
The Wolves are built different. They’re longer, stronger, fiercer. The game plan is so much more complex against them, and it took the Spurs out of their comfort zone in the half court. The entirety of the Wolves’ defense conspired to keep Wembanyama from getting downhill by sending early help to the free-throw line. Julius Randle turned into a lead blocker on offense to move him out of the way in crunch time.
Minnesota had so many ideas, and a lot of them worked, giving it just enough of an edge to hold on. The Spurs were right there in the end, as coach Mitch Johnson’s gamble to not call a timeout on the final play paid off and the team’s best shooter, Champagnie, got a dream look that clanked off the rim. The Spurs did the things they’re supposed to do in the final minute: Wemby attacked the rim, Champagnie crashed the glass, Dylan Harper got a game-saving steal. They just didn’t have the same level of control of the game as things sped up in the late fourth quarter.
This was the first time all season Wembanyama crossed the 40-minute threshold (he had two games in the 39-minute range that rounded up), and he acknowledged that managing his energy was a factor in his offensive struggles after missing all eight of his attempts from deep. It wasn’t just that he lost some momentum at times, but that he channeled his efforts in less efficient directions.
“I feel like I have to use my energy,” Wembanyama said. “Obviously, I used a lot of it on one side of the court, and on the other side, offensively, I used too much energy on things that didn’t really help our team. So that’s on me. But first thing, I got to start making some shots.”
Wembanyama began to list the Spurs’ various problems, from his game just not feeling good to the offensive leaders of the team needing to be better.
“So basically, if everything was different, it would have been different,” Wembanyama said.
He said the loss was on him. Then De’Aaron Fox came out and said the same thing about himself. He was matter-of-fact about it, like it was obvious.
“It was me,” Fox said. “Unforced turnovers, missed shots, it wasn’t really anything that they did. They’re a good defensive team. But I think this game in particular, it was on me.”
Fox, who went 5 of 14 and 0 of 4 from 3, knows the Spurs won’t advance without him finding his touch. He started slowly in the first round against the Portland Trail Blazers, then took over as the Spurs inched closer to advancing. He’ll need to do the same thing the rest of the way against the Wolves.
Though he has been one of the team’s main vets — Harper shouted out “Unc” while Fox was speaking postgame — this is also uncharted territory for him. Last week was his first playoff series win, as well. All of the players the Spurs rely on to create their offense haven’t done it in May, which is the toughest thing to learn in the game.
Anthony Edwards has proven he can do it. When he was asked to compare how he feels now to when he was in the same position as the Spurs’ young players, making their playoff debuts and trying to find themselves against a physical opponent, he prudently sidestepped the question like he was gonna pull up for 3.
“I feel like that question is giving them the answer,” Edwards said. “It’s kind of a weird question because if I answer it, they’re gonna watch it and be like, ‘Oh, we need to do this.’ So I can’t really answer it.”
He’s right. What little edge the Wolves now hold could be gone in a moment, and every advantage is crucial in the playoffs. There are not many talent gaps anymore. Everyone has roughly the same amount. The difference comes down to execution, toughness and luck.
Wembanyama was asked if there was a silver lining in the loss, knowing just how close his team was. The idiom didn’t translate naturally for him, which was for the best.
“I don’t know what a silver lining means, but obviously, we have to be better,” Wembanyama said. “It shows up on the stat sheet, but we need to figure out before 48 hours what we can do better, and I got no doubt that we will. I trust us.”
By Jared Weiss, via The Athletic