By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-05-11 00:10:02
2026年5月10日，周日，在明尼阿波利斯标靶中心举行的西部半决赛第四场比赛中，明尼苏达森林狼队后卫安东尼·爱德华兹 (5) 对阵圣安东尼奥马刺队时完成扣篮。马刺队以109-114不敌森林狼队，系列赛总比分战成2-2平。
明尼阿波利斯 —— 斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 对一名记者的提问感到不悦，该记者询问在周日晚上马刺以109-114输给明尼苏达的比赛中，安东尼·爱德华兹 (Anthony Edwards) 是如何“脱身”的。
“我不会说他从我们手中脱身了，”马刺队顶尖的外线防守者卡斯尔表示，“我觉得我们干扰了他的大部分投篮。在需要的时候我们也对他进行了包夹。我只是觉得他是一个非常优秀的球员。”
应该说是一个伟大的球员。而且他是在为一位特别的人而战。
尽管马刺队尽了最大努力去防守爱德华兹，但这位亚特兰大籍球员依然势不可挡，带领森林狼队取得了这轮七场四胜制系列赛自首场以来的首场胜利。
爱德华兹全场砍下36分，创下他在2026年季后赛的得分新高。他22投13中，其中三分球5投3中，罚球8投7中，这是他连续第二场出战超过40分钟。在此次统治级表现的15天前，他在对阵丹佛的首轮比赛中左膝过度伸展并导致骨挫伤，那次伤病迫使他缺席了那轮六场系列赛的最后两场。
爱德华兹在第四节表现最为出色，明尼苏达在该节以34-25领先马刺。他打满了该节全部12分钟，6投6中，其中三分球2投2中，罚球2投2中，单节砍下16分。
这是他连续第二场得分30+，也是本届季后赛的第三次。他也成为自2013年总决赛第6和第7场的勒布朗·詹姆斯 (LeBron James) 以来，首位在对阵马刺的季后赛中连续砍下30+的球员。
更多马刺新闻： 文班亚马被驱逐后，马刺主帅称针对他的身体对抗“令人恶心”
“当他没有被包夹时，他能迅速且干净利落地完成技术动作，”明尼苏达主帅克里斯·芬奇 (Chris Finch) 说道，“他找到了拉开空间的方法，而这正是他所需要的全部。”
赛后，爱德华兹将这场比赛献给他已故的母亲。
“今天是母亲节，”他说，“我只想为我妈妈赢下比赛。就这么简单。”
爱德华兹的母亲伊薇特·爱德华兹 (Yvette Edwards) 于2015年因癌症去世，八个月后，他的祖母雪莉·爱德华兹 (Shirley Edwards) 也因癌症去世。爱德华兹身披5号球衣，是因为她们两人都在某月的5号离世。2020年选秀大会上，当森林狼队用状元签选中这位来自佐治亚大学的球员时，他身边放着她们的肖像。
“我不能为了她输掉这场比赛，”爱德华兹提到他的母亲时说道。
明尼苏达还有其他五名球员得分上双，包括另外四名首发球员。但没有人的表现能接近爱德华兹，包括替补出场得到全队第二高分15分的纳兹·里德 (Naz Reid)。
“他投进了许多高难度进球，”卡斯尔在谈到爱德华兹时说，“我们会尝试在第五场比赛中做同样的事情，努力限制他的速度并加强干扰，让他投丢。”
后卫德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 表示，只要马刺队能阻止爱德华兹冲击篮筐，他们就能打出这轮系列赛中最好的表现。
但在维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 被驱逐后，周日想要将爱德华兹和他的队友挡在禁区之外变得异常困难。作为2026年NBA年度最佳防守球员，文班亚马在此前系列赛中场均贡献6.3次盖帽，但他因肘击里德面部在第二节被驱逐出场。
“显然，这为他们打开了更大的空间，”福克斯说道。
据ESPN报道，森林狼队在第四场比赛中通过突破完成了38次投篮，这是芬奇执教以来单场第二高的纪录。
在这38次投篮中，有30次发生在文班亚马因二级恶意犯规被自动驱逐之后。
“每个人都知道当他不在场时，篮下会变得空旷得多，”爱德华兹说，“他有八英尺高，所以，是的，只要他在场，他每次都能镇守篮筐。”
除了在防守爱德华兹方面遇到麻烦外，马刺队在二次进攻得分上以15-24落后。这是明尼苏达连续第四场在该项数据上领先至少7分。
“我们必须能够做好卡位，”在马刺队篮板球以41-49落后（鲁迪·戈贝尔 (Rudy Gobert) 为森林狼抢下全场最高的13个篮板）后，福克斯说道。
“我们知道他们会冲抢篮板，”福克斯补充道，“我们知道他们会打得很强硬，所以我们必须在这方面做得更好。”
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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：San Antonio Spurs couldn't stop Timberwolves' Anthony Edwards
San Antonio Spurs couldn’t stop Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) dunks on the San Antonio Spurs during Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals at Target Center in Minneapolis on Sunday, May 10, 2026. The Spurs lost to the Timberwolves 114-109, tying the series at 2-2.
MINNEAPOLIS — Stephon Castle took exception with a reporter asking him how Anthony Edwards “got away” from the Spurs in Sunday night’s 114-109 loss to Minnesota.
“I wouldn’t say he got away from us,” the Spurs’ top perimeter defender said. “I think we were contesting most of his shots. We were showing crowds when we needed to. I just think he’s a really good player.”
Make that a really great player. And one who was playing for someone special.
Despite the Spurs’ best efforts to defend Edwards well, there was no stopping the Atlanta native as he led the Timberwolves to their first victory since the opening game of the seven-game series.
Edwards finished with 36 points, the most he’s scored in the 2026 playoffs, on 13 of 22 from the field, 3 of 5 from 3-point range and 7 of 8 from the free-throw line in his second consecutive 40-minute outing. The dominating performance came 15 days after he hyperextended his left knee and suffered a bone bruise in the first round against Denver, an injury that forced him to miss the last two games of that six-game series.
Edwards was at his best in the fourth quarter in Game 4 when Minnesota outscored the Spurs 34-25. Playing all 12 minutes of the period, he had 16 points on 6 of 6 from the floor, 2 of 2 from beyond the arc and 2 of 2 at the free throw line.
It was his second straight 30-plus game and third of the postseason as he became the first player to score 30-plus in back-to-back playoff games against the Spurs since LeBron James in Games 6-7 of the 2013 Finals.
MORE SPURS: After Wembanyama ejected, Spurs coach calls physicality toward him ‘disgusting’
“When he wasn’t doubled, he got to his stuff quick and clean,” Minnesota coach Chris Finch said. "Just kind of figured out how to get separation and that was just all that he needed.”
Afterward, Edwards dedicated the game to his late mother.
“Today is Mother’s Day,” he said. “I just wanted to win for my mom. It was that simple.”
Edwards’ mother, Yvette Edwards, died of cancer in 2015 and his grandmother, Shirley Edwards, died of cancer eight months later. Edwards wears No. 5 because they both passed away on the fifth of the month. He had portraits of them next to him the night the Timberwolves selected him first overall out of Georgia in 2020.
“I couldn’t lose this game for her,” Edwards said, referring to his mom.
Minnesota had five other players score in double figures, including their four other starters. But none came close to matching Edwards’ production, including Naz Reid who finished second on the team with 15 points off the bench.
“He made a lot of tough shots,” Castle said of Edwards. “We’ll just try to do the same things in Game 5, try to slow him down and contest to make him miss.”
Guard De’Aaron Fox said the Spurs had their best stretches in this series whenever they’ve been able to keep Edwards from driving to the basket.
But it was difficult to keep Edwards and his teammates out of the paint Sunday after Victor Wembanyama, the NBA’s 2026 Defensive Player of the Year who entered the game averaging 6.3 blocks per game in the series, was ejected in the second quarter for elbowing Reid in the face.
“Obviously, that opens it up a lot more for them,” Fox said.
Per ESPN, the Timberwolves took 38 shots off drives in Game 4, their second most in any game under Finch.
Thirty of the 38 came after Wembanyama received the automatic ejection after he was hit with a Flagrant 2 foul.
“Everybody knows the rim is going to be a lot more open when he’s not on the floor,” Edwards said. “He’s eight-feet tall, so, yeah, he gonna cover up the rim every time he’s on the floor.”
In addition to their troubles with Edwards, the Spurs got beat 24-15 in second-chance points. It’s the fourth game in a row Minnesota has won that category by a margin of at least seven or more.
“We have to be able to box out,” Fox said after the Spurs were out-rebounded 49-41, with Rudy Gobert leading the way for the Timberwolves with 13 boards.
“We know they’re going to crash,” Fox added. “We know they’re going to be physical, so we have to be better at that.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News