By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-05-16 02:51:10
2026年5月15日，周五，在明尼阿波利斯标靶中心举行的西部半决赛第六场上半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) (5) 在下场时受到队友的欢迎。
明尼苏达讯——在周五以139-109痛击明尼苏达的比赛中，斯蒂芬·卡斯尔打出了统治级表现。马刺队主帅米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 将卡斯尔描述为一只“疯狗”，而在这场比赛中，这位后卫确实曾对一名森林狼球员“露出了獠牙”。
上半场还剩约三分钟时，21岁的卡斯尔在低位背身单打迈克·康利 (Mike Conley)，随后投进了一个4英尺的突破打板球，这一球直接让这位38岁的后卫摔倒在场地上。
得分后，卡斯尔盯着倒地的对手看了几秒钟，仿佛在说：“受够了吗，老家伙？”
确实是“疯狗”本色。
考虑到这场比赛的重要性，这或许是卡斯尔两年职业生涯中最精彩的表现。他全场轰下全场最高的32分，并抓下季后赛生涯新高的11个篮板，外加6次助攻，带领马刺队从头领先到尾，赢下了这场西部半决赛的系列赛晋级战。
在30分钟的上场时间里，卡斯尔还投中了5记三分球，这是他NBA生涯单场最高纪录。他也因此成为队史首位在季后赛中单场斩获30+得分、8+篮板、5+助攻且投进5+三分球的球员。
“这表现简直太棒了，”马刺队主帅约翰逊在谈到卡斯尔的表现时说道，“他的气质和性格让他拥有了正确的处理球方式，并以正确的方式打球。”
维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 只用了一个词来总结卡斯尔的表现。
“不可思议，”这位法国球星说道，随后他主要赞扬了卡斯尔作为场上指挥官的高篮球智商。
“他表现得很出色，”文班亚马说，“该投篮的时候他投了，而且投进了。该传球的时候他传了。这种表现水准非常高。”
在卡斯尔的带领下，马刺队全场三分球38投18中（命中率47.4%），创下了队史季后赛单场三分命中数纪录。卡斯尔在三分线外前五次出手全部命中，全场三分球7投5中，投篮共计16投11中。而森林狼的防守策略是让7英尺1英寸的鲁迪·戈贝尔 (Rudy Gobert) 试图去盯防他。
“我不会说这能保证我每晚都手感火热，”卡斯尔在谈到他的火热投篮时说，“但这绝对为我打开了很多空间，尤其是在冲击篮筐和阅读比赛方面，迫使对手不得不防上来，最终不得不开始把我从三分线外赶走。我觉得这为每个人都打开了新世界。”
森林狼主帅克里斯·芬奇 (Chris Finch) 表示，让戈贝尔防守卡斯尔是一个错误。
“我会为开局的表现承担责任，”芬奇说，“我们调整了对位。我们试图做一些事情来延缓他们的开局，结果让卡斯尔早早找到了手感，这当然不在计划之内。这是我的责任。”
这一表现凸显了卡斯尔作为外线射手的巨大进步。当初他离开康涅狄格大学时，球探们还曾质疑他的外线手感。但自从马刺队在2023年以首轮第四顺位选中他以来，这位2024年的年度最佳新秀一直在稳步提高，在进入第六场比赛前，他的外线命中率已接近40%。
“就是待在球馆里练习，”卡斯尔在谈到如何进步时说，“过去两年我一直和（马刺投篮教练）吉米·巴隆 (Jimmy Baron) 一起训练。他非常棒。对我来说，最重要的是保持脚步动作的一致性，让每一次投篮的感觉都一样。是的，最近感觉很好。”
马刺队还得到了两届全明星后卫德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 的强力支持，他在24分钟内贡献了21分和全队最高的9次助攻。
福克斯在第一节还剩1分15秒时因右脚踝酸痛前往更衣室接受治疗，这让马刺队惊出一身冷汗。直到下半场开始他才重新回到场上。
“我没事，”福克斯说，“有点疼。是脚踝侧面，不是后面。我觉得重新上场很舒服。”
约翰逊称这位28岁的九年级老兵是“联盟中最强硬的球员之一”。
“他从不缺席任何比赛，”教练说，“他是那种不太谈论痛苦，也不太表现出来的人。”
约翰逊赞扬了福克斯在比赛中多次稳住局势，当时马刺队在领先较多时可能会注意力不集中。
“他整晚都在做出各种贡献，无论这些是否体现在技术统计表上，”约翰逊说。
马刺队还从新秀后卫迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 那里得到了另一份亮眼的成绩单，他全场8投6中得到15分和5个篮板。
“他们和我们队里任何人一样听从教导，”约翰逊在谈到卡斯尔和哈珀时说，“当我们告诉他们一些事情时，他们会倾听，而一旦踏上球场，他们就像疯狗一样。”
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 Stephon Castle's 'attack dog' mentality triggered the Spurs' rout
How Stephon Castle’s ‘attack dog’ mentality triggered the Spurs’ rout
San Antonio Spurs guard Stephon Castle (5) is greeted by his teammates after coming off the floor during the first half of Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals at Target Center in Minneapolis, Friday, May 15, 2026.
MINNESOTA — Spurs coach Mitch Johnson described Stephon Castle as an attack dog after his dominant performance in Friday’s 139-109 pummeling of Minnesota, and there was indeed one play when the guard all but bared his teeth at one of the Timberwolves.
With about three minutes left in the first half, the 21-year-old Castle backed Mike Conley down in the post before sinking a 4-foot driving bank shot that sent the 38-year-old guard sprawling to the court.
After the score, Castle took a few seconds to glare at his fallen opponent as if to say, 'You had enough, old man?"
Attack dog, indeed.
In a dominant performance that, considering the stakes, may have been the finest of his two-year pro career, Castle had a game-high 32 points, a playoff-best 11 rebounds and six assists in leading the Spurs to a wire-to-wire, series-clinching victory in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals.
In 30 minutes, Castle also sank five 3-pointers, his most in any game as an NBA player, to become the first in franchise history to have 30-plus points, eight-plus rebounds, five-plus assists and five-plus threes in a playoff game.
“It was pretty damn good,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said of Castle’s outing. “His temperament and disposition led to him having the right approach and playing the right way.”
Victor Wembanyama needed just one word to sum up Castle’s play.
“Amazing,” said the French star, who then proceeded to rave mainly about Castle’s high basketball IQ as a floor general.
“He was great,” Wembanyama said. “He shot the ball when he should have shot it, and made the shots. And he passes the ball when he should have passed it. That’s pretty high up there.”
With Castle setting the tone, the Spurs set a franchise postseason record for 3-pointers made by going 18 for 38 (47.4%). He sank his first five attempts from beyond the arc on a 5-for-7 night from distance and finished 11 for 16 from the floor against a defensive game plan that had 7-foot-1 Rudy Gobert attempting to shadow him.
“I wouldn’t say it guarantees me to have a good night,” Castle said of his torrid shooting, “but it definitely opens up a lot for me, especially getting downhill and making reads, just forcing guys to have to go over and eventually have to start running me off the line. I feel like it just opens up the world for everybody.”
Timberwolves coach Chris Finch said it was a mistake to put Gobert on Castle.
“I’ll take the blame for the start of the game,” Finch said. “We flipped the matchups around. We tried to do some things there that maybe slow down their start. Allowed Castle to get hot early, that certainly wasn’t the plan. That’s on me.”
The performance underscored how far Castle has come as a perimeter shooter from the days when scouts questioned his outside touch coming out of Connecticut. But since the Spurs selected him fourth overall in 2023, the 2024 Rookie of the Year has improved steadily to the point where he entered Game 6 shooting nearly 40% from distance.
“Just staying in the gym,” Castle said of how he’s improved. “I’ve been working with (Spurs shooting coach) Jimmy (Baron) for really the past two years. He’s been great. The biggest thing for me is just staying consistent with my footwork, making every shot feel the same. Yeah, it’s been feeling good.”
The Spurs also got a dynamic outing from two-time All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox, who finished with 21 points and a team-high nine assists in 24 minutes.
Fox gave the Spurs a scare when he headed to the locker room for treatment on his sore right ankle with 1:15 left in the first half. He didn’t return until the start of the second half.
“I’m all right,” Fox said. “It hurts a bit. It’s a side (of the ankle), not the back. I felt comfortable being back out there.”
Johnson called the 28-year-old ninth-year pro “one of the toughest guys in the league.”
“He doesn’t miss any games,” the coach said. “He’s one of the guys who doesn’t talk about (pain) much, doesn’t show it much.”
Johnson credited Fox with settling the Spurs down several times during the game when they might have lost focused while leading by so much.
“He made multiple plays all night long, whether they showed up in the box score or not,” Johnson said.
The Spurs also got another strong outing from rookie guard Dylan Harper, who had 15 points on 6 of 8 from the field and five rebounds.
“They’re as coachable as anyone we have,” Johnson said of Castle and Harper. “They listen when we tell them stuff and they get on the court and they’re just like attack dogs.”
By Tom Orsborn, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News