By Jeph Duarte | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2026-05-16 11:00:00
自加入 NBA 以来，圣安东尼奥马刺队 (San Antonio Spurs) 已 14 次闯入分区决赛。其中有 6 次，他们成功晋级总决赛，并夺得了 5 座 NBA 总冠军奖杯。
在格雷格·波波维奇 (Gregg Popovich) 担任主教练之前，球队仅有 4 次分区决赛经历。而在 1999 年至 2017 年期间，波波维奇率队 10 次杀入分区决赛。
2017 年是马刺最后一次进入西部决赛，那也是球队命运的关键转折点。在系列赛第一场，扎扎·帕楚里亚 (Zaza Pachulia) 将脚伸到了科怀·伦纳德 (Kawhi Leonard) 的脚下，那次受伤改变了后者的职业生涯，也让马刺在随后的几年里陷入了低谷。
今年，专家们认为马刺的表现“超出了预期进度”，但正如斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 昨晚在马刺于明尼苏达强势赢下第六场系列赛关门战后所指出的那样，他们深知自己已经准备好了。
如果说 2017 年是这支传奇球队由盛转衰的开始，那么这次西部决赛则标志着马刺正处于上升期，并被视为未来多年的冠军争夺者。
马刺面临的下一个挑战是今年最受期待的对决之一。俄克拉荷马城雷霆队 (Oklahoma City Thunder) 是卫冕冠军。谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大 (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) 是现任常规赛 MVP 和总决赛 MVP，并在最近被评为本赛季的年度最佳关键球员。他们在首轮横扫了菲尼克斯太阳队 (Phoenix Suns)，随后又在西部半决赛中未尝败绩，淘汰了洛杉矶湖人队 (Los Angeles Lakers)。
正如尤杜尼斯·哈斯勒姆 (Udonis Haslem) 在赛后节目中所言，常规赛的表现现在已经不重要了，两支球队回到了 0-0 的起跑线，一切从零开始。
马刺必须做出调整。在经历过森林狼队的身体对抗后，维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 将在内线面对伊赛亚·哈尔滕施泰因 (Isaiah Hartenstein) 和切特·霍姆格伦 (Chet Holmgren) 的挑战，这将迫使他改变投篮选择。
亚历山大是 NBA 的顶级球星，且经常能站上罚球线。相比之下，斯蒂芬·卡斯尔极具侵略性的防守让他在整个季后赛期间都深陷犯规麻烦。
当被问及马刺缺乏季后赛经验时，文班亚马只是简单地表示：“求胜心比任何事情都重要。”
西部决赛的第一场比赛将于周一晚上在俄克拉荷马城进行。
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：Open Thread: The Spurs advance to the Western Conference Finals
Open Thread: The Spurs advance to the Western Conference Finals
Since joining the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs have played in the Conference Finals fourteen times. For six of those, they advanced to the NBA Finals and have won five NBA championships.
Only four Conference Finals appearances took place before Gregg Popovich became head coach. Ten trips with Pop occurred between 1999 and 2017.
2017 was the last time the Spurs made the Western Conference Finals, and it was a pivotal turning point for the organization. In Game 1, Zaza Pachulia slid his foot under Kawhi Leonard, injuring him in a way that altered his career and sent the Spurs into a tailspin for a few years.
This year, the Spurs have been considered “ahead of schedule” by pundits, but as Stephon Castle pointed out last night after the Spurs dominant Game 6 close out in Minnesota, they knew they were ready.
If 2017 was the beginning of the pendulum swing for the storied franchise, this Western Conference Finals represents the Spurs on their upswing, considered to be a contender for years to come.
Their next challenge facing the Spurs is one of the most anticipated matchups of the year. Oklahoma City are the reigning NBA champs. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the reigning MVP and Finals MVP and was recently named this year’s Clutch Player of the Year. They just went through the Phoenix Suns in round one and the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals without a loss.
As Udonis Haslem stated in the postgame show, what happened in the regular season doesn’t matter now, the teams are 0-0, starting from scratch.
The Spurs will have to make adjustments. After being pushed around by the Timberwolves, Victor Wembanyama will face Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren in the paint, forcing him to alter his shot selection.
SGA is NBA royalty and gets to the line quite often. By comparison, Stephon Castle’s aggressive defense has gotten him into foul trouble throughout the playoffs.
When asked about the Spurs inexperience with postseason, Victor Wembanyama simply stated “heart matters more than anything.”
Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals takes place in Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night.
By Jeph Duarte, via Pounding The Rock