By Dan Woike | The Athletic, 2026-05-19 10:00:01
《The Athletic》正在为您实时报道2026年NBA季后赛西部决赛 第二场 马刺对阵雷霆 的比赛。
俄克拉荷马城——周一晚系列赛首战打响前，西部决赛交手的两位主教练马克·戴格诺特 (Mark Daigneault) 和米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 的看法完全一致。
在他们看来，外界对于首发阵容的讨论有些小题大做了。当被问及场上的先发五虎时，两人的回答与大多数NBA教练如出一辙。
“相比于我所考虑的事情，首发被过度强调了，”俄克拉荷马雷霆队主教练戴格诺特说道，“对我来说，谁先发、谁第一个替补出场或是之后谁再上场，并没有什么区别。……如果第一个替补登场时全场灯光熄灭，大家也把这当成一件大事，那么所有人也都会把注意力集中在这上面。”
但这话你去跟球员们说试试。
对大多数球员而言，进入首发阵容是一种荣誉勋章，也是对即将到来的激烈竞争的首次授勋。现场的欢呼与嘘声预示着即将到来的对抗强度。这分量很重——是一次情感上的洗礼。
这也是为什么各支球队，尤其是那些在季后赛中走得很远的球队，通常不会把新秀放在这个位置上的原因。
圣安东尼奥马刺队在周一晚上别无选择。德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 因伤势严重无法出战，因此他们只有一条路可走。迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 将在今年季后赛中首次在跳球前听到自己的名字。
他说自己是在赛前大约一小时得知这一消息的，随后他的球队便赢下了一场足以载入史册的经典战役——一场历经双加时、以 122-115 险胜的杰作。他说自己的准备工作和往常的比赛没什么两样。但这场比赛，显然截然不同。
这个马刺的对手会无情摧毁任何显露出犹豫和软弱迹象的球队。他们利用对手的失误打反击，就像赛车消耗汽油一样疯狂。他们围追堵截哈珀的队友斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle)，逼迫他出现了多达11次失误。
他们不断推进、施压、拉扯、缠斗、冲撞并干扰你。最终，这会让你彻底崩溃。
但哈珀顶住了所有这些压力，巩固了自己在这届人才辈出的新秀中名列前茅的地位，并帮助马刺在客场抢下主场优势，取得了系列赛1-0的领先。
他全场仅有一次失误——发生在第一个加时赛初期，当时他接球脱手，球砸在腿上弹出了界外。然而，零失误并不意味着他打得消极。开局手感不佳并未让他气馁，雷霆队的防守也从未吓倒他。他掏出了自己武器库中的各种上篮技巧，凭借着过人的强壮、狡黠与沉着，一次次在篮下完成终结。
他在今年三月初才刚刚满20岁。
“我上场时的心态就是做我自己，”他说道。
目前尚不清楚福克斯何时能够复出，但如果这就是B计划，那效果显然绰绰有余。
哈珀砍下24分，与谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大 (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) 旗鼓相当。他送出了6次助攻，除了那位MVP之外，比雷霆队的任何球员都多。他抢下了11个篮板，超过了切特·霍姆格伦 (Chet Holmgren) 和以赛亚·哈尔滕施泰因 (Isaiah Hartenstein)。
他还贡献了7次抢断，创下了自1984年达雷尔·沃克 (Darrell Walker) 代表纽约尼克斯队单场送出7次抢断以来，新秀在季后赛中的最高纪录。
“我以前不知道迪伦防守能这么好，”队友卡特·布莱恩特 (Carter Bryant) 说道，“老实说，我在高中时经常和迪伦一起打球。从我高二起，我就一直和他并肩作战或同场竞技。所以大家都知道他在进攻得分方面极具天赋。但是……在防守端能够限制像谢伊、杰伦·威廉姆斯 (Jalen Williams) 等人，这展现了他对胜利的渴望有多么强烈。
“我不认为这是一个突然的飞跃。我觉得我们是一支能够积极应对挑战的球队。我记得在赛季初期，米奇就挑战他去成为一名优秀的防守者，而他做到了。”
在分区决赛中得分超过24分的新秀只有九人。在马刺队历史上，此前也仅有科怀·伦纳德 (Kawhi Leonard) 一人在新秀赛季的分区决赛中担任过首发。其他曾在分区决赛中首发的新秀还包括拉里·伯德 (Larry Bird)、魔术师·约翰逊 (Magic Johnson)、查尔斯·巴克利 (Charles Barkley) 和杰森·塔图姆 (Jayson Tatum)。而上一次在西部决赛中迎来生涯首次首发的新秀，还要追溯到1979年菲尼克斯太阳队的替补中锋乔尔·克拉默 (Joel Kramer)。
在整个NBA季后赛历史上，单场砍下至少24分、11个篮板和6次助攻的其余新秀只有米奇·里奇蒙德 (Mitch Richmond)、魔术师·约翰逊、卡里姆·阿卜杜尔-贾巴尔 (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar) 和埃尔金·贝勒 (Elgin Baylor)。他们中没有人能单场送出7次抢断（约翰逊曾单场送出过6次），也没有人能将失误控制在1次或以下。
还有另一组数据：在本赛季，有11名新秀的场均出场时间超过哈珀，8名新秀的得分比他多，7名新秀的出手次数比他多，6名新秀的助攻比他多。
“对于这一年来一直支持他、指导他并给予他引导的人来说，看到他信任我们并取得这样的成绩，真的非常有成就感，”米奇·约翰逊说道，“因为他在八个月前就表现得这么优秀了。但我们希望他能多积累一些体系常识，了解我们的战术体系，掌握这个联盟的基本功，明白这里的竞争有多残酷，并且提升自己的身体状态等等。
“他也看着同届新秀中的许多人打出了比他更漂亮的数据。”
但现在，那些新秀没有一个还在打比赛，而哈珀却在变得越来越强。
“在赛季初期，当大家似乎都看不到未来的方向时，”哈珀说道，“我却看清了，并且坚信不疑。”
周一，这份“赌注”再次兑现了回报。
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：First, Dylan Harper became a Spurs starter. Then he joined some playoff luminaries
First, Dylan Harper became a Spurs starter. Then he joined some playoff luminaries
The Athletic has live coverage of Spurs vs. Thunder in Game 2 of the 2026 NBA playoffs Western Conference finals.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Mark Daigneault and Mitch Johnson, the two competing head coaches in the Western Conference finals, were in total alignment before the first game of the series Monday night.
To them, questions about their starting lineups were overblown, with both answering like most NBA coaches do when asked about the first five on the court.
“It’s overemphasized relative to what I’m thinking about,” Daigenault, the Oklahoma City Thunder’s coach, said. “It’s like, there’s no difference to me between who you start and who the first sub is or the next sub after that. … If the lights went out for the first sub and they made a big deal about that, everybody would focus more on that.”
Tell it to the players.
For most, the starting lineup is a badge of honor, the first celebration of the competition to follow. The cheers and the boos preview the intensity that’s to come. It’s a lot — an emotional experience.
And it’s why teams, especially ones that are deep into the playoffs, don’t often put rookies in that position.
The San Antonio Spurs didn’t have that choice on Monday night. De’Aaron Fox was too hurt to play, so there was only one move to consider. Dylan Harper, for the first time this postseason, was going to hear his name before the tip.
He said he learned it about an hour before his team won an instant classic, a 122-115, double-overtime masterpiece. He said he prepared like it would be any other game. But it most certainly was not.
This Spurs opponent destroys teams that show any sign of indecision, any moment of weakness. They run on turnovers like a racecar runs on gasoline. They hounded and harassed Harper’s teammate, Stephon Castle, forcing him into 11 turnovers.
They push and pressure, grab and grapple, ram and rattle. Eventually, it breaks you.
But Harper handled every bit of it, cementing his place near the top of this loaded rookie class and giving the Spurs a 1-0 series lead after they stole homecourt advantage.
He turned the ball over just once — early in the first overtime — when he bobbled a pass that bounced off his leg and out of bounds. His lack of mistakes didn’t come with an ounce of passivity. A slow shooting start didn’t demoralize him. The Thunder’s defense never deterred him. He reached into his duffel bag of layups and found ways to finish at the rim by being too strong, too crafty and too poised.
He turned 20 early in March.
“Go in with the mindset of just being me,” he said.
It’s unclear when Fox will return, but if this is Plan B, it sure seems good enough.
Harper scored 24 points, as many as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. He had six assists, more than every player on the Thunder except the MVP. He grabbed 11 rebounds, more than Chet Holmgren or Isaiah Hartenstein.
He had seven steals, more than any rookie in the playoffs since Darrell Walker had seven for the New York Knicks in 1984.
“I didn’t know Dylan could guard like this,” teammate Carter Bryant said. “To be honest, I played with Dylan a lot in high school. I’ve been playing with, against Dylan since I’ve been a sophomore in high school. So everybody has known he’s been uber talented in terms of scoring offensively. But … being able to guard a guy like Shai, being able to guard a guy like Jalen Williams and whoever and so forth defensively, it shows you how much he’s committed to winning.
“I don’t think it was a leap. I think we’re a team that really responds to challenges. And I remember early in the season, Mitch challenged him to be a very good defender, and he did it.”
Only nine rookies have scored more than 24 in a conference finals. Only one other Spur, Kawhi Leonard, started for the team in his first year in the penultimate round. Other rookies who started in the conference finals include Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley and Jayson Tatum. The last one to make his first start in the West finals was Phoenix Suns reserve center Joel Kramer in 1979.
The only other rookies in NBA playoff history with 24 points, 11 rebounds and six assists are Mitch Richmond, Magic, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Elgin Baylor. None had seven steals (Johnson once had six). None had one or fewer turnovers.
Here’s another list: Eleven rookies played more minutes this year than Harper. Eight scored more points, and seven took more shots. Six had more assists.
“It’s just been very rewarding for someone that’s tried to support him through this year and help him in terms of coaching him at times and giving him guidance of just trusting us,” Johnson said. “’Cause he was this good eight months ago. But we wanted him to get some corporate knowledge and learn the program and the fundamentals of this league and how tough it was, and to get in better shape, and etcetera.
“And he watched a lot of guys, in terms of his rookie class, put up bigger numbers than him.”
None are still playing, while Harper is only getting better.
“Earlier in the season when everyone kind of didn’t see the vision,” Harper said, “like I kind of saw it and doubled down on it.”
Monday, that bet cashed again.
By Dan Woike, via The Athletic