By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-05-09 14:35:51
2026年5月8日，周五，明尼阿波利斯标靶中心。圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马 (1) 在西部半决赛第三场下半场投中三分球后做鬼脸。
明尼阿波利斯——维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 走下标靶中心的球场时，他那如翼龙般修长的双臂上布满了新鲜的抓痕和淤青。
在马刺队这场拼抢激烈、几乎毫无保留的第三场胜利后，文班亚马回到客队更衣室时，看起来像是刚经历了一场恶战。
“这总会发生的，”文班亚马看着身上新添的战伤说道，“毕竟，他们是‘狼’（森林狼队）。”
这就是22岁的文班亚马庆祝周五这场艰难胜利的方式。目前来看，这是他NBA职业生涯中最重要的一场胜利。
带着一个冷笑话。
如果想找点乐子，文班亚马本可以用另一个梗：你应该看看对方被打成什么样了。
凭借当家全明星中锋史诗级的数据表现——39分、15个篮板和5次盖帽，马刺队在西部决赛中取得了大比分2-1的领先。
客场作战。系列赛平局。面对一支虽有伤病但季后赛经验丰富、且连续两年闯入分区决赛的森林狼队。
“他无处不在，”送出季后赛生涯新高12次助攻的后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 说道，“冲击篮筐、命中投篮、送出封盖。他在篮板球保护上表现出色，尤其是比赛末段。”
很大程度上得益于文班亚马，他指挥了又一次坚如磐石的防守，身为2号种子的马刺队将在周日迎来第四场比赛，并有机会将6号种子森林狼队推向淘汰的边缘。
这位身高7英尺4英寸的球员对周五胜利的重要性是不言而喻的。
“没有他，”卡斯尔说，“我不知道我们能不能赢。”
马刺队在第四节几乎被迫去寻找那个答案，当时文班亚马陷入了犯规麻烦。
这位高大的法国人在比赛还剩6分18秒时，因试图防守杰登·麦克丹尼尔斯 (Jaden McDaniels) 的跳投而领到了个人第5次犯规。
随着麦克丹尼尔斯两罚全中将分差缩小至98-99，文班亚马和主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 并没有眼神交流。
文班亚马不想下场。约翰逊也不想换下他。
所以他没换。
“我们不打算在板凳席上留下任何子弹，”约翰逊说，“我们会让他继续打，如果他犯满离场，我们到时候再去应对。”
几分钟后，文班亚马利用暂停时间清空思绪，像禅师一样让自己重新找回专注。
文班亚马在休息期间告诉自己的话，甚至违背了他的本能。
忘掉那些不可思议的操作，文班亚马告诉自己。只要在最后的六分钟里打得稳健就好。
“我们领先，”文班亚马说，“我们不需要急躁。我们需要保持稳定性。比起做出那些惊世骇俗的动作，我们更需要避免犯错。”
既然是文班亚马，他自然能同时做到这两点。
决定比赛走势的阶段始于最后4分半钟。马刺队当时仅领先2分。标靶中心18,978名观众发出的呐喊声几乎要掀翻屋顶。
文班亚马持球单打鲁迪·戈贝尔 (Rudy Gobert)，吸引了第二名防守球员，然后将球传给空切的迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 上篮得分。
在马刺队的下一次进攻中，文班亚马背身单打四届年度最佳防守球员戈贝尔，并命中了一个翻身后仰跳投——这是他去年夏天与名人堂中锋哈基姆·奥拉朱旺 (Hakeem Olajuwon) 特训时学到的招式。
紧接着，文班亚马用一记三分球回应了纳兹·里德 (Naz Reid) 的三分，将领先优势维持在6分。
“这就是他的性格，”卡斯尔说，“客场作战，系列赛战平。我们大半场比赛都压制着他们。所以（他）只是想在第四节打出强势表现来收割比赛。”
最终，文班亚马成为了自1973-74赛季以来，第四位在季后赛中拿到至少35分、15个篮板和5次盖帽的球员，也是25年来的首位。
沙奎尔·奥尼尔 (Shaquille O’Neal) 上一次达成这一壮举是在2001年的洛杉矶湖人队。卡里姆·阿卜杜勒-贾巴尔 (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) 和奥拉朱旺——文班亚马的夏训搭档——也榜上有名。
“能与这些大个子前辈齐名感觉很好，”文班亚马说。
文班亚马的英勇表现帮助马刺队顶住了森林狼球星安东尼·爱德华兹 (Anthony Edwards) 砍下32分14个篮板的冲击，后者是带着两条伤腿和满腔斗志在战斗。
以文班亚马为核心的马刺防守端早早奠定了基调，在开场前6分39秒内让明尼苏达颗粒无收。森林狼队开局12投0中，马刺队在首节一度领先多达15分。
与马刺大胜38分的第二场不同，森林狼队并没有让早期的两位数落后击垮自己。
明尼苏达顽强反击，持续给马刺施压，迫使文班亚马和队友们在第四节末段必须打出高质量的执行力。
“这绝对是一场艰难拼下的伟大胜利，”马刺后卫德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 说道，“我们觉得不能在那样领先的情况下丢掉比赛。”
周五终场哨响离开标靶中心球馆时，正是福克斯重新设定了马刺队的目标。
在第三场赢下了重夺主场优势所需的这场客场胜利后，马刺队已经在谈论要在第四场表现得更有“贪欲”。
“既然都到这儿了，我们不妨再赢一场，”福克斯在离场时告诉队友。
无论周日发生什么，文班亚马肯定会带着新的擦伤和淤青走下场。
整个季后赛期间，马刺队展现了抗击打的能力。而在周五的第四节，他们展示了自己也能打出重拳。
在第四场比赛中，他们的目标是再次做到这一点。
“我认为我们还没有取得任何成就，”文班亚马说，“我想我们在这场比赛中展现了一些力量和韧性。我们仍需向自己证明，我们可以保持这种状态。”
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：Victor Wembanyama, Spurs are proving mettle vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
Victor Wembanyama, Spurs are proving mettle vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) makes a face after scoring a three-pointer during the second half of Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals at Target Center in Minneapolis, Friday, May 8, 2026.
MINNEAPOLIS — Victor Wembanyama walked off the floor at the Target Center with fresh scratches and new bruises running up and down his Pterodactyl-like arms.
In the aftermath of the Spurs’ rough-and-tumble, only-some-holds-barred Game 3 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Wembanyama arrived at the visitor’s locker room looking like something the cat — or possibly another animal — had dragged in.
“It’s going to happen,” Wembanyama said, glancing at his newfound battle scars. “They’re Wolves, after all.”
This is how the 22-year-old Wembanyama chose to celebrate a tough-won 115-108 victory Friday that, for now, ranks as the most significant of his NBA career.
With a dad joke
In search of a laugh track, Wembanyama could have gone with an alternate punchline: You should have seen what happened to the other guy.
The Spurs fought their way to a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference finals on the back of a stat line for the ages from their All-Star center: 39 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks.
On the road. In a tied series. Facing a banged-up but playoff-tested Timberwolves team that knows a thing or two about making the conference finals, having done it two seasons in a row.
“He was everywhere,” said guard Stephon Castle, who had a playoff-high 12 assists. “Putting pressure on the rim, knocking down shots, blocking shots. He was big on the glass, especially late.”
Thanks mostly to Wembanyama, who quarterbacked another rock-solid defensive effort, the second-seeded Spurs enter Game 4 on Sunday with a chance to shove the sixth-seeded Timberwolves to the brink of elimination.
The importance of the 7-foot-4 Wembanyama to Friday’s triumph was undeniable.
“Without him,” Castle said, “I don’t know if we win.”
The Spurs were very nearly forced to find out in the fourth quarter, when Wembanyama ran headlong into foul trouble.
The towering Frenchman picked up foul No. 5 with 6:18 to play attempting to defend a Jaden McDaniels jump shot.
As McDaniels made both ensuing free throws to pull Minnesota within 99-98, Wembanyama and coach Mitch Johnson did not make eye contact.
Wembanyama didn’t want to come out of the game. Johnson didn’t want to pull him.
So he didn’t.
“We were going to not leave any bullets in the chamber in terms of keeping him on the bench,” Johnson said. “We were going to play him and then if he fouled out, we deal that when we got to it.”
Given a chance to clear his head in a timeout huddle a few moments later, Wembanyama used to opportunity to recenter himself, Zen-like.
The message Wembanyama told himself during that respite bucked against his very nature.
Forget incredible, Wembanyama told himself. Just be solid for six more minutes.
“We had a lead,” Wembanyama said. “We didn’t need to rush. We needed to be consistent. Rather than doing incredible things or amazing things, we needed to avoid mistakes.”
Wembanyama being Wembanyama, he was able to check both boxes.
The stretch that gave the Spurs the game began with 4 ½ minutes to go. The Spurs were clinging to a two-point edge. A full-throated crowd of 18,978 at the Target Center was, quite literally, howling.
Wembanyama drove on Rudy Gobert, attracted a second defender and then dumped a pass to a cutting Dylan Harper for a layup.
On the Spurs’ next possession, Wembanyama backed down Gobert — a four-time Defensive Player of the Year — and hit a spinning fadeaway gleaned from workouts with Hall of Fame center Hakeem Olajuwon last summer.
On the next trip, Wembanyama answered a Naz Reid 3-pointer with one of his own to keep the Spurs’ lead at six.
“That’s just his character,” Castle said. “On the road, tied series. We had them on their heels for most of the game. So (he is) just trying to have a big fourth quarter to close it.”
In the end, Wembanyama became only the fourth player since 1973-74 to record at least 35 points, 15 rebounds and five blocks in the playoff game, and the first in a quarter of a century.
Shaquille O’Neal last accomplished the feat in 2001 with the Los Angeles Lakers. Kareem Abdul Jabaar and Olajuwon — Wembanyama’s summertime workout partner — are also on the list.
“It’s good to be (mentioned) along with the big fellas,” Wembanyama said.
Wembanyama’s heroics helped the Spurs weather a 32-point, 14-rebound night from Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards, who is playing on two bad knees and a bucket fuil of guts.
The Spurs’ defensive effort, with Wembanyama at the epicenter, set the tone early by holding Minnesota without a field goal for the first 6:39 of the game. The Timberwolves started 0-for-12 as the Spurs went ahead by as many as 15 points in the first quarter.
Unlike in Game 2, which the Spurs won by 38 points, the Timberwolves did not let an early double-digit deficit do them in.
Minnesota battled back, kept pressure on the Spurs, and forced Wembanyama and Co. to execute down the stretch of the fourth quarter.
“It was definitely a great win to grind out,” Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox said. “We felt like we couldn’t give up a lead like that and lose.”
Exiting the Target Center bowl after the final horn Friday, it was Fox who reset expectations for the Spurs.
Having earned the one road victory they needed in Game 3 to reassert home-court advantage, the Spurs were already talking about getting greedy in Game 4.
“We might as well win another one while we’re here,” Fox told teammates leaving the court.
Whatever happens Sunday, Wembanyama is sure to emerge with new scrapes and contusions.
Throughout the playoffs, the Spurs have displayed their ability to take a punch. In the fourth quarter Friday, they showed the ability to dish out a few blows themselves.
In Game 4, they aim to do it again.
“I think we haven’t done anything yet,” Wembanyama said. "I think we showed some strength during this game, some relentlessness. We’ve still got to prove to ourselves that we can sustain that.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News
