By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-05-29 15:11:42
2026年5月28日星期四，在圣安东尼奥冰霜银行中心举行的西部决赛第六场比赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) (24) 推搡俄克拉荷马雷霆队中锋切特·霍姆格伦 (Chet Holmgren) (7)。
俄克拉荷马城——在这轮西部决赛中，马刺后卫德文·瓦塞尔 (Devin Vassell) 已经不是第一次展现出势不可挡的姿态了。
瓦塞尔刚刚在篮筐上封盖了俄克拉荷马城大个子切特·霍姆格伦 (Chet Holmgren)。很自然地，他得好好对这位7英尺高的大个子喷上几句。
最终，裁判詹姆斯·威廉姆斯 (James Williams) 介入了这场单方面的垃圾话输出，并对瓦塞尔提出了一个小小的要求：能不能请他冷静一下，放过可怜的霍姆格伦？
“我很抱歉，但不行，”瓦塞尔随后笑着说道。他在周四马刺赢下挽救赛季的西决第六战后，回忆起了那个瞬间，“我真的冷静不下来。”
圣安东尼奥的其他人——就此而言，还有俄克拉荷马城的球迷——都深有同感。
凭借在他们本赛季首场季后赛生死战中取得的一场令人窒息的118-91大胜，马刺成功将系列赛拖入周六在俄克拉荷马城佩科姆中心举行的抢七大战。这场决战似乎从季后赛一开始就已注定。
对于双方而言，这都是一场非赢即回家的生死战。在这场胜者通吃的巨人对决中，其影响已经超越了拿到今年NBA总决赛门票的意义，而纽约尼克斯队已经在总决赛静候他们的到来。
雷霆是骄傲的卫冕冠军，这支拿到64胜的球队在追求两连冠的道路上，突然被逼到了悬崖边缘。
而马刺，随着维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 的强势崛起（如果说他还没有完全统治的话），已经成为这支在俄克拉荷马平原上迅速壮大的巨无霸的最大威胁。他们试图在雷霆正在成型的王朝尚未真正建立之前，就将其扼杀在摇篮之中。
“我们经历了很多第一次，”马刺主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 说道。他带领的这支拿到62胜的球队，在七年来的首次季后赛之旅中依然挺立，“而这一场将比以往任何一场都更重要，筹码也更高。”
周六的比赛将是NBA历史上仅有的第二次出现两支在常规赛至少拿到62胜的球队在抢七大战中交锋。上一次发生这种情况还是在1981年，当时波士顿凯尔特人队击败费城76人队夺得东部冠军。
马刺将寻求自2014年击败迈阿密热火夺得队史第五冠以来，首次重返NBA总决赛。而雷霆则将寻求在12个月内再次杀入总决赛。
自2007年搬迁至俄克拉荷马城以来，雷霆在抢七大战中的战绩为4胜2负。他们在主场保持着4胜0负的战绩，其中包括在去年总决赛中击败印第安纳步行者队。
“我们学到的最重要的一点是，每一场比赛都是全新的开始，”俄克拉荷马城主教练马克·戴格诺特 (Mark Daigneault) 说道，“如果你想赢，每一场胜利都必须靠自己去拼。抢七大战也不会有什么不同。”
马刺在队史抢七大战中的总战绩为4胜7负，其中客场战绩为1胜5负。队史唯一一次客场赢得抢七是在2008年季后赛第二轮对阵新奥尔良黄蜂队。
马刺上一次季后赛之旅是在2019年，当时他们在首轮抢七大战中客场不敌丹佛掘金队，遗憾出局。
当年那支球队的球员如今已无一人留在马刺。在当年对阵掘金的淘汰赛中出场的八名马刺球员中，有五人已经离开了联盟。
马刺替补球员哈里森·巴恩斯 (Harrison Barnes) 和卢克·科内特 (Luke Kornet) 曾代表其他球队夺得过NBA总冠军。德阿隆·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 在效力萨克拉门托国王队期间，曾经历过对阵金州勇士队的抢七大战并遗憾落败。
“我们已经没有退路了，”巴恩斯说道，“在这轮系列赛中，我们之前还有调整的时间。但现在已经到了必须在48分钟内倾尽所有、完美合力的时刻。”
这将是马刺和雷霆本赛季的第12次交手，其中包括四场常规赛和一场NBA杯赛。在目前的11次交锋中，马刺赢下了其中的7场。
这也是过去30年来，仅有的第二次出现两支球队在单赛季交手如此多次的情况。
当被问及两支球队在抢七大战中还能为彼此准备什么出其不意的战术时，福克斯的回答言简意赅。
“毫无秘密可言，”福克斯说道，“（没有新的）轮换、战术配合或调整。到了这个时候，这纯粹是一场意志力的较量。”
雷霆球星谢伊·吉尔杰斯-亚历山大 (Shai Gilgeous-Alexander) 将迎来他职业生涯的第四次抢七大战。这位两届常规赛MVP用五个英文单词形容了周六在俄克拉荷马城的对决。
“我职业生涯最重大的比赛，”吉尔杰斯-亚历山大说道。
为什么？
“因为这是眼前的下一场比赛，”他说道，“而且如果输了，我的赛季就结束了。”
对于文班亚马而言，他在第六场比赛中砍下28分和10个篮板，帮助马刺走到了今天，而这场抢七大战无疑是他NBA生涯至今最重大的比赛。
不过他可能会辩称，这并不是他人生中最重大的比赛。
在2024年，文班亚马曾在巴黎奥运会金牌争夺战中领衔出战，最终法国队在一场苦战后惜败于美国队。
甚至在此之前，还有其他冠军争夺战激发过文班亚马的求胜欲望。
“对我来说，如今在NBA赢球，并不比我当年（在法国）打U13组别时赢得地区冠军更重要，”文班亚马在第六场比赛后用他的母语法语说道，“那种竞争的冲动感觉是完全一样的。”
马刺后卫德阿隆·福克斯谈到重返俄克拉荷马城进行抢七大战：“你还能期待比这更好的剧本吗？……这对我们来说是一个伟大的机会，我认为很多家伙都已经准备好去把握这个机会了。” pic.twitter.com/FpGINw62I9
— 马刺国度 (@ Spurs_Nation) 2026年5月29日
在刚过去的四月之前，马刺二年级后卫斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 从未打过NBA季后赛。然而在大学时期，卡斯尔是康涅狄格大学夺得2024年NCAA全国总冠军的成员。哈士奇队当时必须赢下六场生死战才能实现这一壮举。
卡斯尔表示，秘诀在于不要对眼前的时刻想得太多。
“置身于那样的时刻和环境中，有时你会渴望成为聚光灯的中心，”卡斯尔说道，“但我感觉，以我们球队目前的实力，我们不需要做任何超出常规的事情，就能成为一支非常出色的队伍。”
要想闯入NBA总决赛，马刺所要做的就是上场去击败卫冕冠军——再证明自己一次。
“他们曾经历过这些，而我们没有，”马刺前锋朱利安·尚帕尼 (Julian Champagnie) 说道，“当你来到抢七大战，这就是一盘定胜负。要么你们击败我们，要么我们击败你们。我们只有一场比赛的机会来完成我们必须做的事。”
到周六深夜，西部冠军的归属终将尘埃落定。
在此之前，谁也无法冷静。
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：Spurs-Thunder Game 7 clash was inevitable in Western Conference finals
Spurs-Thunder Game 7 clash was inevitable in Western Conference finals
San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) shoves Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren (7) during Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Thursday, May 28, 2026.
OKLAHOMA CITY — For not the first time in these Western Conference finals, Spurs guard Devin Vassell would not be denied.
Vassell had just rejected Oklahoma City big man Chet Holmgren at the rim. Naturally, he had to tell the 7-footer all about it.
Eventually, referee James Williams intervened in the one-sided trash-talking session with one small request of Vassell: Could he please just calm down and leave poor Holmgren alone?
“I’m sorry, but no,” a grinning Vassell said later, recounting the moment after the Spurs’ season-saving Game 6 victory in the Western Conference finals Thursday. “I really can’t calm down.”
The rest of San Antonio — and Oklahoma City, for that matter — knows the feeling.
Thanks to a devastatingly suffocating 118-91 triumph in their first taste of a postseason elimination contest, the Spurs forced a Game 7 on Saturday at Oklahoma City’s Paycom Center that seemed preordained from the start of the playoffs.
It is do-or-die for both teams, in a winner-take-all clash of titans with ramifications that go beyond cashing a ticket to this year’s NBA Finals, where the New York Knicks await.
The Thunder are the proud defending champions, a 64-win team suddenly pushed to the limit in its bid for back-to-back league titles.
The Spurs, with Victor Wembanyama emerging if not having already emerged, are the biggest threat to the behemoth burgeoning on the Oklahoma plains, looking to put an end to the Thunder’s developing dynasty before it gets off the ground.
“We’ve had a lot of firsts,” said Spurs coach Mitch Johnson, whose 62-win club is still alive in its first playoff run in seven years. “This one will be a little bit more important or higher stakes than all the others.”
Saturday will mark only the second time in NBA history that two teams that won at least 62 games during the regular season will square off in a Game 7. That last occurred in 1981, when Boston defeated Philadelphia for the Eastern Conference crown.
The Spurs will be seeking their first NBA Finals berth since 2014, when they defeated Miami for the franchise’s fifth title. The Thunder will be seeking their first NBA Finals berth in 12 months.
Since relocating to Oklahoma City in 2007, the Thunder are 4-2 in Game 7s. They are 4-0 at home, including a victory over Indiana in last year’s Finals.
“The one thing that we’ve learned more than anything is every game has a new life,” Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault said. “Every game is earned if you want to win it. Game 7 will be no different.”
The Spurs are 4-7 all-time in Game 7s, including 1-5 on the road. The franchise’s lone road victory in a Game 7 came in the second round at New Orleans in 2008.
The Spurs’ last playoff trip, in 2019, ended in the first round with a Game 7 loss at Denver.
None of the players on that squad remain with the Spurs. Of the eight players who logged minutes for the Spurs in the ouster against the Nuggets, five are no longer in the league.
Spurs reserves Harrison Barnes and Luke Kornet have played for NBA championships with other teams. De’Aaron Fox played and lost a Game 7 against Golden State while with Sacramento.
“There’s no tomorrow,” Barnes said. “So far in this series, we’ve had time. It’s to that point where everything has to come together for 48 minutes.”
It will be the 12th meeting this season between the Spurs and Thunder, including four regular-season matchups and an NBA Cup game. The Spurs have won seven of 11 meetings so far.
It is only the second time in the past 30 years that two teams have met this many times in one season.
Asked what surprises either team could have in store for the other in Game 7, Fox was succinct.
“Zero,” Fox said. “(No new) rotations, play calls, adjustments. It’s just a battle of wills at this point.”
Thunder star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander will be playing in his fourth career Game 7. The two-time league MVP described Saturday’s clash in Oklahoma City with five words.
“Biggest game of my career,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
Why?
“It’s the next game,” he said. “And if I lose, my season’s over.”
For Wembanyama, whose 28-point, 10-rebound response in Game 6 helped carry the Spurs here, Game 7 is inarguably the biggest game of his NBA career.
He would quibble that it is not the biggest game of his life.
In 2024, Wembanyama starred in the gold medal game at the Paris Olympics, with Team France losing a hard-fought decision against the United States.
Even before that, there were other championship games that got Wembanyama’s competitive juices flowing.
“For me, winning in the NBA today isn’t any more important than winning a regional championship back when I was playing in the Under-13 division (in France),” Wembanyama said in his native French after Game 6. “The competitive drive feels exactly the same.”
Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox, on heading back to Oklahoma City for Game 7: "What other way would you like it? … It’s a great opportunity for us to have, and I think a lot of guys are ready to step into that opportunity.” pic.twitter.com/FpGINw62I9
— Spurs Nation (@ Spurs_Nation) May 29, 2026
Second-year Spurs guard Stephon Castle had never appeared in the NBA postseason before last month. In college, however, Castle was part of a Connecticut squad that claimed the 2024 NCAA national championship. The Huskies had to win six do-or-die tournament games to make that happen.
The trick, Castle said, is not to overthink the moment.
“Being a part of that moment and in that environment, sometimes you want to be center of the spotlight,” Castle said. “But I feel like just with how good we are as a team, we don’t have to do anything out of our ordinary to be a really good team.”
To make the NBA Finals, all the Spurs have to do is go out and prove it against the champs — one more time.
“They’ve been there before, we haven’t,” Spurs forward Julian Champagnie said. “When you get to Game 7, it’s one game. Either you beat us or we beat you. We have one game to do what we need to do.”
By the end of the night Saturday, the Western Conference will at last be won.
Until then, there will be no calming down.
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer, via San Antonio Express-News