By Jon Krawczynski | The Athletic, 2026-05-11 11:03:34
The Athletic 正在直播报道 森林狼对阵马刺 2026年NBA季后赛 第五场比赛。
明尼阿波利斯——那一肘结结实实地击中了纳兹·里德 (Naz Reid) 的喉咙，巨大的冲击力让他膝盖一软，脸朝下重重地摔在了地板上。
这一肘来自身高7英尺4英寸的维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)。当时文班亚马正处于挫败感爆发的边缘，他猛地扭转躯干，右肘像一枚飞向击球区的鱼雷球棒一样，狠狠地扫向里德的气管。在那一瞬间，里德倒下的过程仿佛按下了暂停键，就像文班亚马肘部传递出的能量让他的身体在实时画面中出现了“掉帧”般的故障。
倒地时，里德上唇紧抿，面部肌肉因痛苦而扭曲，感觉就像在他最喜欢的综合格斗 (MMA) 比赛中被击倒的拳手一样。
站起来。
这种信念即便在周日明尼苏达森林狼114-109击败圣安东尼奥马刺的西部半决赛第四场中，当里德感到下颌剧痛、喉咙紧缩的第二节，依然占据了他的脑海。他刚刚承受了全联盟臂展最长球员的致命一击。此时，除了文班亚马的肘部，他脑子里唯一的念头就是：绝不能让这位马刺球星击垮自己。
站起来。
倒地仅仅四秒钟后，里德双手撑住地板，强行让自己站了起来。他站起来，是因为他的母亲阿娜希亚 (Anashia) 总是每天一早起床，步行前往新泽西的工作地点，只为养活里德和他的兄弟姐妹。
“我妈妈以前上班几乎要走一个小时45分钟，”里德在周日深夜走向座驾时说道，“这就是我妈妈教给我的。被击倒了，就要立刻站起来。”
他站起来，是因为他的祖母琳达 (Linda) 总是在他母亲忙于幼儿园教学或奔波于各种零工以维持家计、填满冰箱时，担负起照顾年幼纳兹的重任。
“我妈妈和祖母经历了很多，”里德说，“我的痛感耐受力就是从她们那里继承来的。”
他站起来，是因为他知道她们在看着他，也因为今年对里德一家来说格外艰难。去年秋天训练营开始前，他的姐姐托拉雅 (Toraya) 在一起家暴事件中不幸丧生，这让这个亲密的家庭悲痛欲绝。在重重苦难中，全家人依然指望着里德和他的森林狼队能为他们带来一丝慰藉。
“我的家庭经历了很多伤痛，”里德告诉 The Athletic，“很多亲人相继离世。我们必须互相扶持。我努力做好自己，希望能减轻一些家人的痛苦。”
他站起来，还因为更衣室里的那群“家人”也同样需要他。在被击中的那一刻，森林狼在大比分上1-2落后。如果落后到1-3，他们的赛季几乎就宣告结束了，而这支球队还没准备好回家。里德是阵中效力时间最长的球员，作为2019年的落选秀，他从路易斯安那州立大学 (LSU) 一路拼杀，穿过发展联盟，最终与安东尼·爱德华兹 (Anthony Edwards) 以及杰登·麦克丹尼尔斯 (Jaden McDaniels) 一起成为了森林狼的核心。他知道队友们被他的奋斗历程所激励，并从他的能量中汲取力量。
球迷们同样深受鼓舞。他们见证了他从一名菜鸟赛季体型微胖、身材矮小的中锋，蜕变为身手全面、精干利落的最佳第六人，并签下了一份5年1.25亿美元的合同，确立了他作为球队长期未来的地位。在里德效力的前两个赛季，森林狼一共只赢了42场比赛。而现在，他们已经成长为一支连续五年闯入季后赛、连续三年杀入第二轮的强队。
“我们经历了很多，”里德说，“华子、杰登、我、朱利叶斯·兰德尔 (Julius Randle)。我们互相支持。在篮球之外，我们首先是真正的朋友。这让我们在场上能为彼此而战。”
当他承受了那一记肘击并重新站起，当他在比赛后期扭伤脚踝却坚持返场，队友们都看在眼里。爱德华兹顶着两只受伤的膝盖在打球，阿约·多苏姆 (Ayo Dosunmu) 带着有伤的小腿在坚持，麦克丹尼尔斯似乎每场比赛都要在身体的不同部位敷上冰袋。里德在赛季后半段的大部分时间里也一直带着肩伤作战。但他始终选择回到场上继续战斗。
“这太不可思议了。他是个战士，”兰德尔说，“只要他在场上，他就会去战斗。他能做到这一点，并在整场比赛中持续做出贡献，这对我们来说意义重大。我们需要他提供的每一分力量。”
文班亚马因那一记肘击被判二级恶意犯规并被驱逐出场，这使得他全场比赛仅出战12分钟得到4分。当他离场时，标靶中心球馆内希望重燃。这位在第三场比赛中几乎凭一己之力统治比赛的“外星人”，在比赛还剩近33分钟时就提前退场。这似乎预示着森林狼将轻松取胜，并带着2-2的平局回到圣安东尼奥参加周二的第五场对决。
里德靠在篮架底座上稳了稳神，活动了一下下颌，深呼吸了几次。他两罚全中，但年轻的马刺在领袖离场后展现出了顽强的反击。
新秀迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 11投8中砍下24分，达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 贡献24分和3次抢断，斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 得到20分和6个篮板，帮助圣安东尼奥在第四节初段建立起94-86的领先。此时距离比赛结束仅剩9分钟，马刺即将给森林狼送上一记比文班肘击更致命的打击。
站起来。
受到里德从地板上爬起来的鼓舞，森林狼发起了最后的反击。爱德华兹化身超级英雄，在第四节独砍16分。鲁迪·戈贝尔 (Rudy Gobert) 抢下5个篮板并完成了一次关键的2+1，兰德尔在明尼苏达单节34-25的逆转攻势中也贡献了出色的防守。
在这个拯救赛季的单节中，里德同样扮演了重要角色，他贡献了6分、3个篮板和2次助攻，其中包括在比赛还剩三分钟时妙传戈贝尔完成扣篮。他在30分钟的出场时间里交出了15分、9个篮板、4次助攻且仅有1次失误的答卷。
“这段时间他一直打得很拼，伙计，”全场砍下36分6个篮板的爱德华兹说道，“他倒地救球，做所有别人不想做的脏活累活。所以他知道，我爱他，他是我兄弟。”
纳兹·里德。
“这展示了我们的韧性和挖掘潜力的深度，”里德说，“我们还有很多比赛要打。我们经历了很多，大家并肩作战，两次闯入西部决赛。这就是人们所说的经验。”
森林狼在文班亚马缺席最后两节半的情况下，依然拼尽全力才险胜马刺，这在明尼苏达引起了担忧。现在这变成了一场三局两胜的系列赛，其中两场将在圣安东尼奥进行。马刺年轻且饥渴，并没有表现出缺乏经验会成为他们追求冠军的阻碍。爱德华兹的膝盖伤势削弱了他的爆发力，兰德尔的失误率高得惊人，而多苏姆自第二场从小腿伤势中复出后一直不在状态。
但系列赛目前是2-2。回到标靶中心再战一场已成定局。森林狼依然在战斗。
周日深夜，在开车回家的路上，里德变得有些感伤。他在思考他们在第四场赢得的战斗，以及未来的挑战。他在思考自己走了多远，以及为了到达这里付出了什么。
“要是你们知道我妈妈和祖母是什么样的人就好了，”他在母亲节这天说道，“我的坚韧大部分源自她们。”
森林狼预计在第五场比赛中会面对一个充满动力的文班，而圣安东尼奥狂热的观众也会严阵以待。在这场西部半决赛的焦点对决中，还会有更多的重锤落下。
他们只需要追随阿娜希亚、琳达和纳兹的脚步。他们只需要不断站起来。
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：Naz Reid got back up, and the Timberwolves are in the fight with the Spurs
Naz Reid got back up, and the Timberwolves are in the fight with the Spurs
The Athletic has live coverage of Timberwolves vs. Spurs in Game 5 of the 2026 NBA Playoffs.
MINNEAPOLIS — The elbow caught Naz Reid flush in the throat, the impact so violent that it buckled his knees and dropped him, face down, onto the court.
It was delivered by the 7-foot-4 Victor Wembanyama, whose torso uncorked in a fit of frustration that sent his right elbow whipping toward Reid’s windpipe like a torpedo bat flying through the strike zone. For a moment, Reid almost seemed to pause on his way down, as if the transfer of energy from Wembanyama’s elbow to his neck caused his body to glitch in real time.
Reid’s upper lip curled and his face contorted as he hit the deck, feeling like a felled fighter during one of his favorite MMA main events.
Get up.
The feeling overwhelmed him even as his jaw ached and his throat compressed in the second quarter of the Minnesota Timberwolves’ 114-109 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 4 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Sunday. He had just taken a hellacious shot from the longest arms in the league. The one thing going through his head, other than Wembanyama’s elbow, was that he wasn’t going to let the Spurs star get the best of him.
Get up.
A mere four seconds after he was knocked to the ground, Reid pressed both of his palms on the hardwood and pushed himself to his feet. He got up because his mother, Anashia, always got up every morning to walk to work in New Jersey so she could provide for Reid and his siblings.
“My mom used to walk damn near an hour and 45 minutes to work,” Reid said as he walked to his car late on Sunday night. “That’s what my mom taught me. You get knocked down, get right back up.”
He got up because his grandmother, Linda, always got up to take care of a young Naz when his mother was teaching preschool or stuck at any number of odd jobs she needed to make sure the lights stayed on and the refrigerator was full.
“My mom and my grandmother have been through a lot,” Reid said. “That’s where I get my pain tolerance from.”
He got up because he knows they’re watching and because this year has been harder than most for the Reid family. His big sister, Toraya, was killed in a domestic violence incident before training camp last fall, devastating the close-knit group. Amid all of the suffering, they all still look to Reid and his Timberwolves to put smiles on their faces.
“A lot of hurt throughout my family,” Reid told The Athletic. “A lot of family members have passed away. We’ve had to stick up for one another. I’m trying to be me and alleviate some of that pain.”
He got up because his extended family in the locker room needs him almost as much as his immediate family does. At the moment of impact, the Wolves were down 2-1 in the series. Falling behind 3-1 would have all but ended their season, and this team is not ready to be done yet. Reid is the longest-tenured Wolf on the roster, an undrafted rookie free agent in 2019 who climbed from LSU up through the G League and into the Timberwolves’ core along with Anthony Edwards and Jaden McDaniels. He knows his teammates are inspired by his journey and feed off his energy.
The fans are as well. They’ve seen him grow up from a pudgy, undersized center as a rookie into a sleek, versatile Sixth Man of the Year with a five-year, $125 million contract that cements him as part of their favorite team’s long-term future. The Wolves won 42 games combined in Reid’s first two seasons. They have evolved into a team that has made the playoffs for five straight years, including three straight trips to the second round.
“We’ve been through a lot,” Reid said. “Ant, Jaden, me, Julius (Randle). We’ve got each other’s back. We’re genuinely friends first before basketball. That helps us fight for one another.”
When he takes the elbow and gets back up, when he goes down with a sprained ankle later in the game and comes back in, his teammates notice. Edwards is playing on two bad knees. Ayo Dosunmu is playing with a balky calf. McDaniels seems to have an ice pack on a different body part each game. Reid has been playing with a banged-up shoulder for most of the second half of the season. But he keeps coming back for more.
“It’s incredible. He’s a warrior,” Randle said. “Every time he’s out there, he’s going to battle. For him to do that, and continue to make plays throughout the game, it’s big for us. We needed every single one of them.”
Wembanyama was given a Flagrant 2 and ejected for that elbow on Reid, limiting him to 12 minutes and four points in the game. When he left, hope swelled inside Target Center. The alien, the one who took Game 3 nearly all by himself, exited with almost 33 minutes left in the game. Surely that meant that the Timberwolves would cruise to victory and head back to San Antonio for Tuesday’s Game 5 with the series tied, 2-2.
Reid gathered himself by leaning against the basket stanchion, flexing his jaw and taking in some deep breaths. He knocked down the two free throws, but the young Spurs responded with force while standing up for their departed leader.
Rookie Dylan Harper scored 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting, De’Aaron Fox had 24 points and three steals, and Stephon Castle had 20 points and six rebounds, helping San Antonio build a 94-86 lead early in the fourth quarter, putting it nine minutes away from delivering a blow to the Timberwolves much more lethal than Wemby’s elbow.
Get up.
Inspired by Reid pulling himself off the mat, the Wolves mounted one last charge. Edwards put on the superhero cape, scoring 16 points in the fourth quarter. Rudy Gobert grabbed five rebounds and had a clutch 3-point play, and Randle played terrific defense in a 34-25 frame for Minnesota.
Reid played a big role in the season-saving quarter as well, scoring six points, grabbing three boards and picking up two assists, including a no-look dish to Gobert for a dunk with three minutes to play. He finished the game with 15 points, nine rebounds, four assists and only one turnover in 30 minutes.
“He’s just been playing hard for us this entire time, man,” said Edwards, who finished with 36 points and six rebounds. “He dive on the floor, do all the little things that other people don’t want to do. So he know, I love him. That’s my brother.”
Naz Reid.
“It shows how deep we can dig and the toughness that we have,” Reid said. “We have a lot more basketball to play. We’ve been through a lot. We’ve been together, been to two Western Conference finals. That’s the experience they talk about.”
That it took everything the Wolves had to squeak by the Spurs without Wembanyama for the final two-and-a-half quarters is cause for concern in Minnesota. This is now a best-of-three series with two of those games scheduled in San Antonio. The Spurs are young, hungry and are showing no signs of inexperience being an obstacle in their pursuit of a title. Edwards’ knees have taken some of his explosiveness away, Randle is turning the ball over at an alarming rate and Dosunmu has not looked comfortable since coming back from that calf injury in Game 2.
But the series is 2-2. Another game at Target Center is guaranteed. The Wolves are still in the fight.
Reid grew wistful late Sunday night as the drive home awaited. He was thinking of the fight they won in Game 4 and the fights still to come. He was thinking about how far he’s come and what it took to get here.
“If only y’all knew who my mom and my grandmother are,” he said on Mother’s Day. “I get a lot of my toughness from them.”
The Wolves expect a motivated Wemby back on the court in Game 5, and the rowdy Spurs crowd will be out for blood. There will be more punches to absorb in what has been the defining series of the second round.
They just have to follow Anashia, Linda and Naz’s lead. They just have to keep getting up.
By Jon Krawczynski, via The Athletic