By Jared Weiss | The Athletic, 2026-05-07 10:20:11
圣安东尼奥——对于圣安东尼奥马刺队来说，这是一个充满信条的夜晚。身边环绕着优秀的教练团队，意味着当压力上升时，球员脑海中会浮现出许多深刻的细节。无论是原则还是视角，当比赛的节奏和层次变得令人应接不暇时，这些都能让球员保持冷静。
达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 记得肖恩·斯威尼 (Sean Sweeney) 对防守的看法。这位马刺队的首席助教兼防守协调员经常在场边大声布置防守任务和覆盖范围，或者把球员拉到一边讲解细节。他与维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 在比赛中频繁交流。马刺队之所以能围绕这位理想的防守者建立起理想的防守体系，原因有很多，而斯威尼在功劳簿上名列前茅。
“斯威尼总是说，你开始防守回合的方式决定了你结束它的方式，”在马刺队以 133-95 大胜明尼苏达森林狼队，将西部半决赛大比分扳成 1-1 平后，福克斯说道。
防守回合之初的失位会导致一系列的轮转和协防，最终可能让鲁迪·戈贝尔 (Rudy Gobert) 这样的球员抢到进攻篮板。正是这些小细节决定了一支球队的防守能否为进攻创造势头，并最终拉开比分。
周三晚上，马刺队在所有细节上都做得非常出色。在福克斯和文班亚马于第一场比赛中三分球合计 12 投 0 中后，主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 在开场就为马刺队的这对全明星组合安排了一系列挡拆，以帮助他们进入节奏。福克斯表示他在第一场比赛中表现得有些犹豫，但在第二场比赛中这种情绪迅速消失了。福克斯与文班亚马之间的默契得到了恢复，马刺队找回了自我。
“这非常、非常重要，”文班亚马在谈到他与福克斯的关系时说道，“作为球队主要的掩护者和主要的持球者，再加上其他队友，我们会经常掌控球权，而且他比我们大多数人都更有经验。”
约翰逊的印记贯穿了整场比赛，尤其是当他在场边亲手指点如何对安东尼·爱德华兹 (Anthony Edwards) 进行即兴包夹时。在底线对朱利叶斯·兰德尔 (Julius Randle) 的夹击也放空了对方那些并非首选的射手，这表明马刺队这次已经吃透了比赛计划。很大程度上，这取决于赌森林狼队投不进，而他们确实反复打铁。但其中也体现了极高的目的性和协调性，从后卫在后场的紧逼到内线球员避免在篮下出现任何错位防守。
“只要我们能打好开局，通常就能占据主动，”福克斯说，“当我们成为更具侵略性的一方时，我们就能赢下大部分比赛。”
随着卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant) 从脚伤中复出，约翰逊并没有像过去那样将哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 移出轮换。相反，他扩大到了十人轮换，并在整个晚上保持着防守压力，因为他意识到如果他们全力以赴，马刺队可以迅速终结比赛。
“实话实说，我知道这支球队有能力做到这一切。坦白讲，我期待自己和队友们能做出这样的回应，”文班亚马说道，“所以我一点也不惊讶，我会继续努力，让我们能像今晚这样对待更多的比赛。”
文班亚马被问及系列赛中的紧张气氛，以及这是否对马刺队有利。他试着寻找答案，但最终只给出了一个显而易见的结论。这是马刺队在前进过程中必须拥抱的东西。
“这就像是，我不知道，这就像是季后赛，”文班亚马说道。
马刺队的韧性每晚都会受到考验。他们面对的是一个强大的对手，对方有能力做出大量调整且心怀复仇之志。这不再是常规赛，也不是首轮对阵那支在体型和得分能力上都无法与森林狼相提并论的波特兰开拓者 (Portland Trail Blazers)。马刺队不会一直表现糟糕，也不会一直表现卓越。第二场比赛代表了他们最好的状态，也是他们在系列赛余下时间里将继续追逐的标准。
最后，文班亚马想起了格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 是如何看待胜负波动的。约翰逊的前任，目前职位头衔为“El Jefe（老大）”的波波维奇，是第二场比赛前马刺队训练中第一个走出录像室的人。在某个时刻，他关于胜负的观点深深影响了球队的基石。
“正如波波所说，‘当你赢球时，你并没有你想象的那么好，’”文班亚马说道，“‘而当你输球时，你也没有你想象的那么糟。’”
尽管最终比分如此，他们在第一场比赛中确实表现得有点糟；而尽管最终比分如此，他们在第二场比赛中也只是表现得很好。但只要文班亚马和福克斯能强势开局，他们通常也能同样出色地收尾。
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 rely on wise coaching and a strong start to turn Wolves series around
Spurs rely on wise coaching and a strong start to turn Wolves series around
SAN ANTONIO — This was an evening of mantras for the San Antonio Spurs. Being surrounded by good coaching can result in many tidbits that stick in the mind when the pressure rises. A principle or even a perspective keeps players grounded when the speed and layers of the game become overwhelming.
De’Aaron Fox remembered how Sean Sweeney viewed defense. The Spurs’ associate head coach and defensive coordinator is often calling out assignments and coverages, or pulling players aside to talk them through something. He and Victor Wembanyama check in with each other frequently throughout games. There are many reasons why the Spurs have built the ideal defense around the ideal defender, but Sweeney is high on that list.
“Sweeney always says the way you start possessions is the way you finish them,” Fox said after the Spurs trounced the Minnesota Timberwolves 133-95 to tie their Western Conference semifinal series 1-1.
Starting a possession out of position can lead to a series of rotations and help that eventually give a player like Rudy Gobert position for an offensive rebound. Those little things determine whether a defense can generate momentum for an offense and actually pull away.
All the little things worked for the Spurs on Wednesday night. After Fox and Wembanyama combined for 0-of-12 from deep in Game 1, coach Mitch Johnson dialed up a flurry of pick-and-rolls for the Spurs’ All-Star pair out of the gate to get them in rhythm. Fox said he was hesitant in Game 1, but that was mitigated swiftly in Game 2. The Fox-Wembanyama harmony was restored, and the Spurs looked like themselves.
“It’s of great, great importance,” Wembanyama said of his relationship with Fox. “As the biggest screener on the team and the biggest handler on the team, with other guys along with him, we’re going to have the ball a lot, and he’s more experienced than most of us.”
Johnson’s fingerprints were all over this game, especially when he was manually controlling impromptu traps of Anthony Edwards right in front of him against the sideline. Traps on Julius Randle against the baseline, too, left open the desirable shooters, showing that the Spurs had the game plan nailed down this time. A lot came down to betting on the Wolves to miss, which they did repeatedly. But there was also a level of intent and coordination, from the guards pressing in the back court to the bigs avoiding any crossmatches underneath.
“Whenever we’re able to start games off pretty well, we’re usually on the front foot,” Fox said. “When we’re the aggressors, we’re able to win most of those games.”
With Carter Bryant back from a foot injury, Johnson didn’t remove Harrison Barnes from the rotation like he has in the past. Instead, he expanded to a 10-man rotation and kept the defensive pressure ramped up throughout the night, recognizing the Spurs could end the game quickly if they cranked the throttle.
“Just saying it like it is, I know this team’s capable of doing all of this. To be honest, I’m expecting this kind of response from myself, from my teammates,” Wembanyama said. “So I’m not surprised by any means, and I’m just going to keep working so we approach more games like we did tonight.”
Wembanyama was asked about the tension in the series and whether that works in the Spurs’ favor. He tried to search for an answer, but eventually just settled on the obvious. The thing the Spurs just have to embrace as they move forward.
“It’s like, I don’t know, it’s like, the playoffs,” Wembanyama said.
The Spurs will have their character tested every night. They are facing a tough opponent capable of a slew of adjustments and with vengeance on the mind. This isn’t the regular season, or the first round against a Portland Trail Blazers team that did not have the Wolves’ size and scoring. The Spurs won’t always be bad, and they won’t always be great. Game 2 represented their best self and a standard they will continue to chase for the rest of the series.
In the end, Wembanyama remembered how Gregg Popovich viewed the waves of winning and losing. Johnson’s predecessor, whose current job title is “El Jefe,” was the first person to walk out of the film room at Spurs practice ahead of Game 2. At some point along the way, his perspective on winning and losing landed with the team’s cornerstone.
“As Pop says, ‘When you win, you’re never as good as you thought you were,’” Wembanyama said. “’And when you lose, you’re never as bad.’”
They were a little bad in Game 1, despite the final score, and just good in Game 2, also despite the final score. But as long as Wembanyama and Fox can start things off strong, they usually can finish just as well.
By Jared Weiss, via The Athletic