By John Hollinger | The Athletic, 2026-06-07 13:35:21
The Athletic 正在为您带来 马刺对阵尼克斯 2026年 NBA总决赛 第三战的实时报道。
圣安东尼奥——总决赛前两场比赛中最大的冷门，并不是纽约尼克斯在客场连下两城、击败了斩获62胜的圣安东尼奥马刺，也不是纽约的卡尔-安东尼·唐斯 (Karl-Anthony Towns) 截至目前的表现压过了马刺队那宛如天神下凡的内线巨无霸维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)，更不是一个曾被该死的华盛顿奇才裁掉的家伙居然在这个舞台上成为了关键时刻的英雄。
这些确实引人瞩目，但还算不上最让人大跌眼镜的。到目前为止，最大的冷门在于，在尼克斯赢下第二场比赛后，主教练迈克·布朗 (Mike Brown) 那洋溢着热情、近乎狂喜且天马行空的赛后新闻发布会上，他滔滔不绝地讲了1276个词，才终于脱口说出那个词——“spray”（分球）。
“分球（Sprays）”——这是他的专属词汇，指的是三分线内的球员将球传给外线空档队友的战术，无论这是通过突破、接球、抢下进攻篮板还是某种神来之笔完成的——这或许是布朗战术词典中最具代表性的词。虽然在周五的赛后他花了相当长的时间才提到这个词，但平时他使用这个词的频率，简直就像是一个专业软管商，或者是定型喷雾巨头 Aqua Net 的首席执行官。
顺便说一句，“分球”并不一定要直接转化为三分出手。在这里，过程比结果更重要。其核心理念是，通过这种传球，为接球球员创造针对防守者的优势，因为防守者不得不改变移动方向并扑向他。这可能会为下一次突破创造机会，进而可能转化为上篮，或者演变成又一次分球。如此循环往复，连绵不绝。
在这场比赛中，也就是第二战第二节末段，这种“循环”足足进行了四轮，尼克斯才最终达到了预期的效果。在距离半场结束还剩4分钟、马刺以48-44领先时，尼克斯在进攻时间最后的8秒内连续完成了四次分球，最终为他们最准的射手之一米卡尔·布里奇斯 (Mikal Bridges) 创造了底角绝对空位的机会。他手起刀落，将马刺的领先优势缩小到1分。
在纽约经历23.8秒的传导球和人员跑动后，布里奇斯出手了。这其中有一些相对平淡的前奏，但最终以一段持续9秒的攻势收尾：四次分球、五次传球、四名不同球员的八次运球，彻底撕碎了马刺的防线。
尼克斯这球传得太漂亮了
布里奇斯投进了他本场比赛的第3个三分！ pic.twitter.com/2lWzvio0Zj
— NBA (@ NBA) 2026年6月6日
如果你在电视机前记录这次进攻，路线是：杰伦·布伦森 (Jalen Brunson) 传给兰德里·沙梅特 (Landry Shamet)，再传给布里奇斯，再传回布伦森，接着传给OG·阿奴诺比 (OG Anunoby)，最后传回布里奇斯。皮球三次飞向右侧底角，一次飞向左侧底角，它的运行轨迹就像是谷歌地图出了一次严重的导航故障，绕了最远的路才到达最终的目的地。
到了最后，马刺队的每一个防守人都彻底失位。在这次防守中，可以清晰地看到文班亚马被从一侧拉扯到另一侧，直到最后被孤立且精疲力竭，只能眼睁睁地看着皮球空心入网。
正是在这一刻，一种无法抗拒的预感笼罩了霜冻银行中心球馆（Frost Bank Center）：尼克斯已经拿捏了对手。纽约人已经在客场落后12分的情况下，顶住了马刺这支背水一战、志在必得的队伍的猛攻完成逆转。而现在，他们更是让马刺那引以为傲的防线疲于奔命、团团转。
如果尼克斯最终夺冠，这一幕将成为本轮系列赛的标志性时刻。这是现代篮球版的“廷克到埃弗斯到钱斯”（Tinker to Evers to Chance，棒球史上经典的默契双杀配合），其技术与团队合作的结合是如此令人叹为观止、和谐而美妙，以至于让人不禁联想到了……好吧，其实就是当年的马刺。
还记得2014年夺冠的那支圣安东尼奥马刺吗？那支打出“团队篮球（beautiful game）”的球队，用行云流水的“传控（tiki-taka）”配合，在总决赛中让巨星云集的迈阿密热火疲于奔命。而这一次，扮演马刺角色的变成了尼克斯，而且他们还有布朗——这位“分球大师”本人，他正是从圣安东尼奥的体系中开启并磨炼了自己的执教生涯。
无论如何，他麾下的这支尼克斯队，现在正用比马刺更马刺的方式击败马刺。
布里奇斯的这次进攻或许是最精彩的杰作，但对这支尼克斯来说绝非特例。任何看过这支球队在过去13场季后赛中一路狂飙的人，都会认出他们标志性的突破分球，那是布伦森和唐斯个人统治力与精准传导球的完美融合，同时辅以角色球员的精妙配合。
赛后，我向多位尼克斯球员询问了这次配合，最让我印象深刻的是，在他们看来，这次配合简直不值一提。他们谈论这次8秒内完成4次分球的进攻时，那语气就像是在讲述周二早上逛了一趟 Wegmans 超市一样平常。
“我的意思是，大家只是在根据场上形势做出阅读和反应，”布伦森说，“我们互相配合，我们看到的和你们看到的是一样的。”
“突分、做出正确的阅读、分享球，”沙梅特说，“这就是我们的球队。你知道的，如果有队友空了，我们就会传过去，完成那次配合，互相信任并付诸行动。”
事实上，对于这支球队来说，这有什么好大惊小怪的呢？这不过是尼克斯队在又一场胜利中的普通一球罢了。他们正在打出NBA历史上最具统治力的季后赛表现之一……并且在球场上像街头艺术家班克斯 (Banksy) 喷涂涂鸦那样，肆意挥洒着他们的“分球雨”。
重新观看尼克斯在第二场比赛中的全部38次三分出手，即便使用相当严格的定义，布里奇斯的那次进攻也是我记录的14次源自“分球”的出手之一。正是这种传导球，成为了纽约在布伦森手感冰冷（25投7中）、唐斯陷入犯规麻烦且两分球命中率仅有43.1%的情况下，依然能够克敌制胜的关键原因。
毋庸置疑，这些分球在纽约神奇的季后赛之旅中发挥了巨大作用。在尼克斯轮换阵容前八名的球员中，有四人在季后赛中的三分命中率超过了40%，而布里奇斯“仅有”38%。与此相关的是，纽约在季后赛中的进攻效率比联盟平均水平整整高出了惊人的每百回合10分。
让我们来回顾一下，虽然纽约在周五“仅仅”赢了1分，从而拿下了13连胜：但这依然是NBA历史上（无论是季后赛还是常规赛）最具统治力的13连胜，累计净胜分高达273分。
如果这听起来很耳熟，那是因为纽约此前已经保持了最佳的12连胜、最佳的11连胜、以及最佳的10连胜、9连胜和8连胜纪录。根据 Stathead 的数据，尼克斯的这段征程是如此具有统治力，以至于他们在这波连胜的不同区间里，多次霸占了这些历史榜单的榜首。例如，根据你在13连胜中截取的不同起止点，纽约包揽了联盟历史上表现最好的三个“9连胜”区间。
根据 Stathead 的计算，要想创造历史最佳的14连胜表现，他们需要在第三场比赛中至少赢下15分。而对于那些有更大梦想的人来说：纽约必须在接下来的两场比赛中累计净胜至少30分，才能以NBA历史上最具统治力的15连胜表现结束这个赛季。
要做到这一点，他们需要继续用布朗最爱的战术，将马刺的防线送进“搅拌机”里。
当他周五晚上终于提到那个以“S”开头的词（Spray，分球）时，他为周一的第三场比赛提供了一个简单的战术方案。
“我们必须努力继续冲击油漆区，如果文班协防过来，就试着把球分出去，”他说，“只要出了空位，就果断出手。”
如果他的弟子们能利用这些“分球”，将这段神奇的连胜再延续两场，那么他们接下来要喷洒的，可就是香槟了。
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 the Knicks' 'sprays' under Mike Brown have soaked the Spurs' defense
How the Knicks’ ‘sprays’ under Mike Brown have soaked the Spurs’ defense
The Athletic has live coverage of Spurs vs. Knicks in Game 3 of the 2026 NBA Finals.
SAN ANTONIO — The biggest upset through two games of the NBA Finals isn’t that the New York Knicks won both on the road against the 62-win San Antonio Spurs, or that New York’s Karl-Anthony Towns, thus far, has outplayed Spurs’ larger-than-life big man Victor Wembanyama, or that a guy who got cut by the freaking Washington Wizards has been a crunch-time hero on this stage.
Those are notable, but they do not take the crown. The biggest upset, by far, is that it took Knicks coach Mike Brown 1,276 words into his ebullient, borderline-ecstatic stream-of-consciousness news conference after his team’s Game 2 win before he finally blurted out the word “spray.”
“Sprays” — his word for plays on which a player inside the 3-point line kicks the ball out to a player beyond the arc, whether as a result of a drive, catch, offensive board or divine intervention — might be the defining term in the Brownian lexicon. While it took him a comparatively long time to get around to it after the game on Friday, he normally uses this term with the frequency you might expect from, say, a proprietor of specialty hoses, or perhaps the CEO of Aqua Net.
Sprays don’t have to result in an immediate 3-point shot, by the way. It’s the process that matters here, not the result. The idea is that they create an advantage for the player who receives the pass against a defender who has to reverse direction and close it to him. Maybe that sets up another drive, which maybe results in a layup or maybe leads to yet another spray. Rinse, lather and repeat.
In this case, late in the second quarter of Game 2, the “repeat” part went through four cycles before the Knicks finally achieved the desired result. At the four-minute mark, with San Antonio leading 48-44, the Knicks executed four sprays in the final eight seconds of the shot clock to yield a wide-open corner 3 for one of their best shooters, Mikal Bridges. He splashed it and cut the Spurs’ lead to one.
Bridges let it go after 23.8 seconds of New York ball and player movement. Some of that was relatively unexciting preamble, but it ended with a nine-second sequence of four sprays, five total passes and eight dribbles by four different players that broke the Spurs’ defense.
THIS BALL MOVEMENT FROM THE KNICKS
Bridges sinks his 3rd three of Game 2! pic.twitter.com/2lWzvio0Zj
— NBA (@ NBA) June 6, 2026
If you’re scoring at home, it went Jalen Brunson to Landry Shamet to Bridges to Brunson to OG Anunoby to Bridges. The ball hit the right corner three different times and the left one once, its pathway a Google Maps misadventure that took the most indirect route possible to its eventual destination.
By the end, every San Antonio defender was hopelessly out of position. Behind the play Wembanyama can be seen getting dragged from side to side until he’s finally marooned and exhausted, watching helplessly as the ball splashes through the net.
It was this exact moment that an inescapable feeling spread though Frost Bank Center: The Knicks had these guys. New York had already come back from 12 points down against a desperate Spurs team playing a must-win game. And now, they had a dominant Spurs defense chasing and running in circles.
If the Knicks end up prevailing, that sequence will go down as the defining moment of the series. It was the Tinker to Evers to Chance of modern basketball, a sequence of both skill and teamwork so jaw-droppingly harmonious and beautiful that it conjured up memories of … well, the Spurs, actually.
Remember the 2014 San Antonio champions, the “beautiful game” team whose tiki-taka passing sequences left the superstar-laden Miami Heat chasing their tails in the finals? This time, the role of the Spurs is being played by the Knicks, complete with Brown, Mr. Spray himself, who cut his coaching teeth in the San Antonio system.
Somehow, some way, his Knicks team is now out-Spursing the Spurs.
That play with Bridges perhaps was the pièce de résistance, but was hardly an outlier for these Knicks. Anyone who has watched this team’s stampede through its past 13 playoff games will recognize the familiar drives and kicks, the blend of individual dominance by Brunson and Towns melded with precision ball movement, and skillful play from secondary players.
After the game, I asked multiple Knicks about the sequence, and what stood out was how utterly unremarkable the play seemed to them. They talked about a play with four sprays in eight seconds as if they were recounting a Tuesday-morning excursion to Wegmans.
“I mean, they were just reading and reacting,” said Brunson. “We were playing off each other. We saw the same thing you did.”
“Drive and kick, make the right read, share the ball,” said Shamet. “That’s our team. You know, if there’s a guy open, we’re gonna make that pass, make that play, trust each other and do that.”
And really, why would it seem remarkable for this group? This was just another play in another win for a Knicks team that has put up one of the most dominant playoff runs in NBA history … and spraying like Banksy while doing it.
Rewatching all 38 New York 3-point attempts in Game 2, that Bridges play was one of 14 I charted as the product of a spray, even using a fairly tight definition of the term. That kind of movement is a big reason New York prevailed despite an off night from Brunson (7 of 25), foul trouble for Towns and just 43.1 percent shooting inside the arc.
Needless to say, those sprays have been a huge part of New York’s magical run through the postseason, with four of the Knicks’ top eight players shooting better than 40 percent from 3 in the playoffs and Bridges at “just” 38 percent. In a related story, New York’s playoff offensive efficiency is a whopping 10 points per 100 possessions better than the league average.
Just to review, since New York “only” won by one on Friday for its 13th straight win: This is still the most dominant 13-game winning streak in NBA history, playoffs or regular season, with a plus-273 scoring margin.
If this sounds familiar, well, New York already had the best 12-game streak. The best 11-game streak. The best 10-, nine-game and the eight-game streaks. The Knicks’ run has been so dominant that, according to Stathead, they occupy multiple spots atop these leaderboards, using different parts of the same streak. New York, for instance, has the three best nine-game runs in league annals, depending on which endpoints you use within the 13-game streak.
To own the best 14-game streak, they’ll need to win Game 3 by at least 15 points, per Stathead. For those who dream bigger: New York would have to win the next two games by a combined total of at least 30 to finish the season with the most dominant 15-game run in NBA history.
To do that, they’ll need to keep the Spurs’ defense in the blender by giving Brown more of what he loves.
When he finally got around to using the S-word Friday night, he offered a simple game plan for Monday’s Game 3.
“We have to try to keep touching the paint, trying to spray it if Wemby comes,” he said. “If you’re open, let it fly.”
If his troops can use those sprays to maintain this magical run for two more games, the next thing they’ll be spraying is champagne.
By John Hollinger, via The Athletic