By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-05-13 14:40:30
2026年5月12日，周二，在圣安东尼奥弗罗斯特银行中心举行的西部半决赛第五场对阵明尼苏达森林狼队的上半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 与队友前锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 击掌。
一切如常。
这就是文班亚马试图展现出的态度。
在周二赛前的球员介绍环节结束后，这位从超级巨星沦为“球场恶人”的马刺核心花了一点时间，平静地环视着弗罗斯特银行中心内19,345名尖叫的球迷，仿佛在与他们一一对视。
他从记录台上拿过牙胶塞进嘴里。文班亚马与比斯马克·比永博 (Bismack Biyombo) 紧紧拥抱，回应了凯尔登·约翰逊 (Keldon Johnson) 俏皮的撞胸庆祝，然后站在中圈，与明尼苏达森林狼队的鲁迪·戈贝尔 (Rudy Gobert) 手臂抵着手臂，准备开场跳球。
没有异样，没有反常，一切看起来都平淡无奇。
“我真的没感觉到他有什么不同，”队友斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 说道。
对于文班亚马来说，他在两天前的西部半决赛第四场中被驱逐出场，这一事件似乎足以葬送马刺队在整个系列赛的前景。而在他强势回归前的最后几秒钟，与其说是暴风雨前的宁静，不如说是两场风暴之间的间隙。
在随后的第五场48分钟比赛中，憋了一股劲的文班亚马在以126-97大胜森林狼的比赛中所展现出的统治力，比任何挥向纳兹·里德 (Naz Reid) 脑袋的肘击都更有力量。
文班亚马不会被欺负，马刺队也不会。
这位22岁的法国人在比赛前六分钟就砍下了16分，全场贡献27分、17个篮板和3次盖帽，帮助马刺队在系列赛中取得了3-2的领先。
凭借这场胜利，马刺队将带着赛点回到明尼苏达参加周五的第六场比赛，有望自2017年以来首次锁定分区决赛的席位。
赛后，文班亚马显然没心情讨论周日发生的不愉快，当时他因瞬间的情绪失控而在明尼阿波利斯的关键第四场中被驱逐。
“那是两场比赛前的事了，”文班亚马说道，“我专注于今天的比赛，现在我专注于三天后在明尼苏达的比赛。这是季后赛，我们必须向前看。”
马刺队感到庆幸的是，周二文班亚马能够身披战袍继续出战。
在周日第四场第二节进行不到四分钟时，文班亚马在争抢篮板球的混乱中肘击放倒了里德。
裁判判定该犯规为二级恶意犯规，这触发了自动驱逐。一天后，NBA联盟办公室审查了该事件以确定是否需要禁赛，最终决定不予追加处罚。
随着这位全明星中锋获准回归系列赛，马刺前锋德文·瓦塞尔表示，他预料到第五场会出现一个“愤怒的文班”。
赛后，主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 对他这位22岁的超级巨星的表现给出了不同的评价。
“我想我最想用的一个词就是‘成熟’，”约翰逊说道。
约翰逊解释道：
“自上一场比赛以来的过去48小时里发生了很多事情，”约翰逊说，“我认为这个年轻人在（周二）的表现，以及他在各种局面和情况下打球的方式，都表现得极其成熟。”
愤怒的文班？成熟的文班？
为什么要二选一？
“这两者并不互斥，”文班亚马说道，这证明他的“德州方言流利度”教程卓有成效，“我两者兼备。”
27分 | 17篮板 | 5助攻 | 3盖帽 pic.twitter.com/Nsrnn6KreS
— 圣安东尼奥马刺队 (@ spurs) 2026年5月13日
在第五场比赛中，明尼苏达并没有改变他们对付无解文班亚马的“肉搏式”策略。
开场四分钟，杰登·麦克丹尼尔斯 (Jaden McDaniels) 就拽着文班亚马的左臂将其拉倒在地。
文班亚马趴在地上拍了拍手，然后爬了起来。
戈贝尔推搡他，朱利叶斯·兰德尔 (Julius Randle) 像推土机一样撞向他。里德在第二节因为一次死球后的推搡被判技术犯规。
阿约·多孙穆 (Ayo Dosunmu) ——身高6英尺4英寸的他站在高耸入云的文班亚马身边显得十分渺小——仰着脖子向马刺队的这位“歌利亚”喷垃圾话。
从始至终，文班亚马都识破了森林狼队的意图。
“我觉得引诱我发火可能是他们的策略之一，”文班亚马说道。
但这并没有起作用。
这一次，文班亚马控制住了自己的情绪，并用一场胜利完成了救赎，将森林狼队推向了淘汰的边缘。
“他的成熟度简直爆表，”卡斯尔说道。
周二，文班亚马几乎没有浪费任何时间来弥补之前损失的时间。
他先是补进了德安德烈·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 在底线的投篮打铁。接着是一个底角三分。一次突破扣篮。在四届NBA年度最佳防守球员戈贝尔头上连续得分。
在令人屏息的第一节结束时，文班亚马在马刺队的34分中独得18分。
“当涉及到哪支球队能打得更有身体对抗，或者哪支球队能承受住这些冲击时，他做得非常好，”福克斯说道，“无论何时受到冲击，他都没有动摇。当他像（周二）这样打球时，很难有人能击败我们。”
如果森林狼队之前不知道，他们现在知道了。
如果文班亚马继续保持这样的表现——并且能让自己留在场上——森林狼队可能除了开始预订卡博圣卢卡斯的度假村外，没剩下多少事可做了。
“文班做出的有些动作，”明尼苏达后卫安东尼·爱德华兹 (Anthony Edwards) 说道，“你根本无解。”
森林狼队只能继续寻找对策，因为他们别无选择。
周五晚上，文班亚马将走进周日他曾提前离开的那条标靶中心球员通道，只不过现在他的背上贴着一个巨大的靶心。
他会被当作反派、恶棍、无赖来对待。
而他的任务，就是让一场剑拔弩张的第六场决战，变得像周二晚上那样一切如常。
“我觉得我们看到了那个贯穿全年的文班，”卡斯尔说道，“我几乎期待他每场比赛都能有这样的表现。”
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：How 'Mature Vic' has Spurs on doorstep of Western Conference finals
How ‘Mature Vic’ has Spurs on doorstep of Western Conference finals
San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) slaps hands with teammate forward Victor Wembanyama (1) during the first half of Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Tuesday, May 12, 2026.
Business as usual.
That’s how Victor Wembanyama tried to approach it.
Just after pregame introductions Tuesday, the Spurs’ superstar-turned-scofflaw took a long moment to calmly survey 19,345 shrieking fans at the Frost Bank Center as if one by one.
He grabbed his mouth guard off the scorer’s table and popped it in. Wembanyama shared a strong embrace with Bismack Biyombo, returned a playful chest bump from Keldon Johnson and then took his place at center circle forearm-to-forearm with Minnesota’s Rudy Gobert for the opening tipoff.
Nothing amiss. Nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing to see here.
“I couldn’t really sense anything different from him,” teammate Stephon Castle said.
For Wembanyama, whose ouster from Game 4 in the Western Conference semifinals two days earlier seemed capable of submarining the series for the Spurs, these last few seconds before his triumphant return were not exactly the calm before the storm.
They were the calm between storms.
Over the next 48 minutes of Game 5, the torrent a pent-up Wembanyama unleashed in a 126-97 drubbing of the Timberwolves made a statement stronger than any flying elbow aimed at Naz Reid’s noggin.
Wembanyama would not be bullied. Neither would the Spurs.
The 22-year-old Frenchman scored 27 points — including 16 in the first six minutes — to accompany 17 rebounds and three blocks to hand the Spurs a 3-2 lead in the series.
With the victory, the Spurs head back to Minnesota for Game 6 on Friday with a chance to secure a spot in the conference finals for the first time since 2017.
Afterward, Wembanyama was in no mood to discuss the unfortunate events of Sunday, when a momentary loss of composure had gotten him kicked out of a crucial Game 4 in Minneapolis.
“It was two games ago,” Wembanyama said. “I was focused on the game today, and now I’m focused on the game in Minnesota in three days. It’s the playoffs. We’ve got to move on.”
The Spurs felt fortunate to be able to move on with Wembanyama in uniform Tuesday.
Less than four minutes into the second quarter of Game 4 on Sunday, Wembanyama flattened Reid with an elbow during a scrum for a rebound.
Officials ruled the foul a flagrant-2, which sparked an automatic ejection. A day later, the NBA league office reviewed the incident to determine if a suspension was necessary, and levied none.
With the All-Star center cleared to return to the series, Spurs forward Devin Vassell said he expected an “upset Vic” to show up for Game 5.
After the game, coach Mitch Johnson had a different description of what he’d seen from his 22-year-old superstar.
“I think the one word I’d like to use is just ‘mature,’ ” Johnson said.
Johnson explained.
“I think there was a lot that’s happened in the last 48 hours since the last game,” Johnson said. “And I think how that young man came out (Tuesday) and how he played in a variety of ways, in a variety of situations, was extremely mature.”
Upset Vic? Mature Vic?
Why choose?
“They ain’t mutually exclusive,” Wembanyama said, proving his “How to speak fluent Texan” tutorials are taking. “I’m looking for both.”
— San Antonio Spurs (@ spurs) May 13, 2026
Minnesota did not change its black-and-blue approach toward solving the unsolvable Wembanyama in Game 5.
Four minutes into the game, Jaden McDaniels yanked Wembanyama to the floor by his left arm.
Prone on the court, Wembanyama clapped his hands and clambered to his feet.
Gobert shoved him and Randle bulldozed him. Reid picked up a technical foul for an extracurricular push in the second quarter.
Ayo Dosunumu — who at 6-foot-4 seemed downright diminutive next to the towering Wembanyama — craned his neck upward to talk trash to the Spurs’ resident Goliath.
All along, Wembanyama proved wise to the Timberwolves’ intent.
“I feel like the rage-baiting would have been maybe one of the strategies,” Wembanyama said.
It didn’t work.
This time, Wembanyama kept his emotions in check, and scored his redemption by sending the Wolves to the brink of elimination.
“His maturity level was off the charts,” Castle said.
Wembanyama wasted little time making up for lost time Tuesday.
There was a tap-in of a De’Aaron Fox miss on the baseline. A corner 3-pointer. A drive and dunk. Back-to-back baskets on Gobert, a four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
By the end of a breathtaking first quarter, Wembanyama had 18 of the Spurs’ 34 points.
“When it comes down to who can be the more physical team or who could be the team that is able to withstand those hits, he did a great job at that,” Fox said. “He didn’t falter whenever he got hit. When he’s playing the way he played (Tuesday), it’s hard to beat us.”
If the Timberwolves did not know before, they know now.
If Wembanyama continues to play like this — and continues to keep himself on the floor — there might not be much left for the Wolves to do but to begin pricing resorts in Cabo.
“Some of the stuff Wemby was doing,” Minnesota guard Anthony Edwards said, “you don’t have an answer for.”
The Timberwolves will keep looking for them, because they have no choice.
Friday night, Wembanyama will enter the same Target Center tunnel he exited prematurely on Sunday, now with a target tattooed on his back.
He will be treated as a villain. A rogue. A rapscallion.
His job will be to turn a taut Game 6 into business as usual.
Just as he did Tuesday night.
“I feel like we got the Vic you’ve seen all year,” Castle said. “I damn near expect that every game.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News