By Mike Finger | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2026-06-09 03:30:34
2026年6月8日，星期一，在纽约麦迪逊广场花园举行的NBA总决赛第三场上半场比赛中，圣安东尼奥马刺队后卫德文·瓦塞尔 (24) 在投中三分球后做出三分手势。
纽约——额外的安保措施给联盟、球迷以及成千上万的上班通勤族带来了巨大的不便，但马刺队乐于充分利用这一局面。
在周一NBA总决赛第三场赛前嘈杂的造势阶段，麦迪逊广场花园有了维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 之外的人可以去嘘，这对马刺来说倒是一件好事。
而当主场作战的尼克斯队开始他们惯常的下半场反扑，寄望于球馆内每一个支持者歇斯底里的呐喊助威时呢？
球馆里并没有想象中那么吵闹——前提是那些支持者中至少有一个人没有打瞌睡。
因此，马刺队并不介意这场闹剧，无论其起因多么没有必要。他们也不介意这种干扰，无论它变得多么大煞风景。通过一场冷酷无情、有条不紊且异常沉着冷静的115-111胜利毁掉了派对仅存的余兴，他们明确地宣告：这轮系列赛还远未结束。
如果他们最终完成了惊天大逆转呢？如果他们成为历史上第一支在总决赛主场先输两场却依然夺冠的球队呢？
好吧，他们大可不必觉得有义务去访问白宫，或者去造访恰好建在那片土地上的任何综合格斗场馆。但也许他们可以寄去一件感谢T恤。
在麦迪逊广场花园举行的圣安东尼奥马刺队与纽约尼克斯队之间的NBA总决赛第三场比赛开始前，唐纳德·特朗普总统在奏国歌仪式中敬礼。
“我们为什么要抱怨？”马刺更衣室里的一位球员说道，他笑着谈论起尼克斯老板詹姆斯·多兰 (James Dolan) 发出的一份可能会改变气运的总统邀请。
要知道，周一必须得有一些改变。
马刺在攻防两端被卡尔-安东尼·唐斯 (Karl-Anthony Towns) 予取予求的局面必须改变。文班亚马缺乏侵略性——尤其是在比赛早期——的状况必须改变。此前已不可思议地取得季后赛13连胜、感觉完全掌控了局势的尼克斯队，他们的那种掌控感也必须改变。
而当有些事情必须做出改变时，偶尔一次干扰反而能对你有利。有时，这种干扰可能是大批特勤局特工的涌入，以及由于一位重磅嘉宾的到来而导致曼哈顿中城多个街区的封锁。
又或者，这种干扰有时可以简单到只是在公园里画一位已故演员的画像。
这就是文班亚马在这个周末一个闲暇的下午清空大脑的方式。他去了格拉梅西公园，坐在长椅上，拿出一个素描本，试图在纸上画出耸立在公园里的埃德温·布斯 (Edwin Booth) 的雕像。
在第一场和第二场连续遭遇两场低迷之后，文班亚马表示他需要“让（自己的）大脑冷静下来，恢复一下”。一位旁观者拍下了他去公园的视频并发布在社交媒体上，这显然是该过程的一部分。
那么，那幅素描画得怎么样？
“还不错，”文班亚马说，“挺好的。”
如果说他对自己艺术水平的自我评价的前半句适用于他在圣安东尼奥（主场）的总决赛表现，那么后半句则更贴切地总结了他的第三场比赛。并不是说他在前两场失利中表现得很糟糕，他只是没有打出往常那种统治级的表现。
这位身高7英尺4英寸的法国人此前在进入这场比赛时，正面临着重蹈另外几位著名天才球员在首次登上NBA最大舞台时覆辙的危险。
1995年，沙奎尔·奥尼尔 (Shaquille O’Neal) 在他的第二个赛季带领魔术队杀入总决赛，结果被火箭队横扫。2007年，勒布朗·詹姆斯 (LeBron James) 在他的第四个赛季带领骑士队打进总决赛，结果被马刺队横扫。
上周，在尼克斯队连续两场比赛在关键时刻压制住文班亚马领衔的马刺新一代之后，人们很容易做出这样的对比。年仅22岁且处于职业生涯第三个赛季的文班亚马，是不是还太缺乏经验，无法大功告成？他是否会像奥尼尔和詹姆斯当年那样，必须等待数年才能重新杀回这个舞台？
好吧，最后一点尚无定论，但他确保了自己不会被横扫。在周一的比赛一开始，他就坚决冲击篮筐，通过上篮和扣篮快速攻下4球。
整场比赛，文班亚马在内线砍下了他32分中的16分。随着斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 也不断冲击纽约的内线防守并砍下23分，马刺队重新找回了过去七个月里让他们进攻如此高效的关键武器。
那么，展望周三的第四场比赛，面临的挑战是什么？
“（挑战）可能就是不要对那些行之有效的战术感到厌倦，”卡斯尔说。
这算不算是脱胎换骨？在总决赛前两场比赛的最后几分钟里还处处犯错的年轻人们，现在居然开始担心得分是不是来得有点太容易了。
不过，他们的主教练可不会做这种想当然的假设。正如米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 在展望未来时所指出的：“没有所谓的势头——比赛不会自动延续。”
尽管如此，周一晚上必须做出改变，而他们也确实做到了。也许这与气氛无关，也许这与玄学无关。但在第三场比赛结束时，这轮系列赛的局势看起来已经完全不同了，每个人都看在眼里。
当然，前提是那些没有打瞌睡的人。
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：How Spurs embraced a distraction, and possibly turned around a series
How Spurs embraced a distraction, and possibly turned around a series
San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell (24) flashes three after making a three point shot during the first half of Game 3 of the NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden in New York, Monday, June 8, 2026.
NEW YORK — The extra security was a massive inconvenience, for the league and for its fans and for tens of thousands of workday commuters, but the Spurs were willing to make the most of it.
It was nice for them, during the rowdy buildup to Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday, that Madison Square Garden had someone other than Victor Wembanyama to boo.
And when the hometown Knicks began their customary second-half charge, counting on the full-throated support of every last supporter in the building?
The arena wasn’t as loud as it could have been — if at least one of those supporters hadn’t dozed off.
So the Spurs didn’t mind the circus, however unnecessarily it was conceived. They didn’t mind the distraction, however vibe-killing it became. By ruining what was left of the party with a ruthlessly methodical, stubbornly poised 115-111 victory, they made it clear this series is far from over.
And if they wind up coming all the way back? If they become the first team ever to lose the first two games of the Finals at home and win a championship anyway?
Well, they shouldn’t feel any obligation to visit the White House, or whichever mixed-martial arts arena happens to be standing on the grounds there. But maybe they can send a thank-you T-shirt.
President Donald Trump salutes during the National Anthem prior to the start of the NBA Championship game three between the San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
“Why would we complain?” one player in the Spurs locker room said, laughing about a possibly karma-altering presidential invitation made by Knicks owner James Dolan.
See, something had to change Monday.
Something had to change with the way the Spurs were being pushed around at both ends of the floor by Karl-Anthony Towns. Something had to change with Wembanyama’s lack of aggression, especially early in games. Something had to change with the way the Knicks, who had won an incredible 13 playoff games in a row, felt like they were in complete control.
And when something has to change, occasionally a distraction can work in your favor. Sometimes that distraction can be a flood of Secret Service agents and the closure of multiple blocks of midtown Manhattan due to the arrival of one high-profile guest.
Or sometimes that distraction can be as simple as drawing a picture of a dead actor in a park.
That’s how Wembanyama cleared his head during one of his idle afternoons this weekend. He went to Gramercy Park, sat on a bench, took out a sketchbook, and tried to make one of the pages look like the statue of Edwin Booth, which stands on the park grounds.
After two rough outings in a row in Games 1 and 2, Wembanyama said he needed “to let (his) brain cool down, recover.” His trip to the park, which was captured on video by an onlooker who posted a clip on social media, apparently was part of that process.
So how did the sketch turn out?
“Not bad,” Wembanyama said. “Pretty good.”
If the first half of his artistic self-evaluation applied to his Finals performances in San Antonio, the second half came closer to summarizing his Game 3. It wasn’t that he’d been terrible in the two losses. He just hadn’t been his typically dominant self.
The 7-foot-4 Frenchman had entered the game in danger of traveling down the same path that a couple of other notable phenoms had traveled during their first trips to the NBA’s biggest stage.
In 1995, Shaquille O’Neal led the Magic to the Finals in his second season, and was swept by the Rockets. In 2007, LeBron James led the Cavaliers there in his fourth season, and was swept by the Spurs.
After the Knicks outplayed Wembanyama’s new San Antonio generation down the stretch in back-to-back games last week, those comparisons were easy to make. Wasn’t Wembanyama, only 22 and in his third season, still too inexperienced to finish the job? Might he have to wait, as O’Neal and James both did, multiple years before clawing his way back?
Well, that last part is yet to be determined, but he made sure he didn’t get swept. From the start on Monday, he made a point of getting to the rim, and scored four quick buckets on layups and dunks.
Overall, Wembanyama scored 16 of his 32 points in the paint. With Stephon Castle also putting huge pressure on the interior of New York’s defense over and over again on his way to 23 points, the Spurs reestablished a big part of what made their offense so effective for the past seven months.
And if there’s a challenge heading into Game 4 on Wednesday?
“(It’s) probably just not getting bored with the things that worked for us,” Castle said.
How about that for a metamorphosis? The kids who couldn’t do anything right in the closing minutes of their first two Finals games now are worried baskets might come a little too easily.
Their coach knows better than to make that assumption, though. As Mitch Johnson noted, looking ahead, “There is no momentum – there is no carryover.”
Still, something had to change Monday night, and it did. Maybe it had nothing to do with vibes. Maybe it had nothing to do with karma. But the series looked different at the end of Game 3, and everyone could see it.
Everyone, that is, who hadn’t dozed off.
By Mike Finger, via San Antonio Express-News