By Mike Vorkunov | The Athletic, 2026-06-12 10:30:30
纽约——在OG·阿奴诺比 (OG Anunoby) 完成那记绝杀、震撼麦迪逊广场花园、甚至扭转总决赛局势的补篮之前，场上出现了一连串令人匪夷所思的混乱。
迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 指向四周，并回头看向圣安东尼奥马刺队的替补席，试图寻找战术指示。维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama) 伸展着他那如“神探加杰特”般的长臂，纳闷对方还需要什么指示，随后便冲过去将哈珀推离三分线，去防守另一名在中场附近的纽约尼克斯队球员。在比赛还剩5.7秒时，阿奴诺比发边线球，却没有任何人去防守他，甚至没有一名马刺球员看他一眼，直到他飞身跃过所有人，完成了NBA历史上最重要的投篮之一。他用指尖赢下了第四场比赛，或许也赢下了一座NBA总冠军。有时候，决定胜负的就是这毫厘之差。
在遭遇了联盟历史上最令人痛心的失利之一后，马刺在总决赛中大比分1-3落后。除了用“心理防线彻底崩溃”来形容，还能如何描述这场崩盘？在周三的第三节比赛还剩9分40秒时，随着达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 罚球线附近中投命中，马刺一度领先多达29分，然而在此后的5分5秒里，他们一分未得。这场令人难以置信的失利，彻底扭转了在半场结束时似乎还倒向马刺的系列赛局势。
马刺带着满腔遗憾回到主场迎接周六的第五场比赛。这是任何球队都不想面对的境地。
但对于一支如此年轻的球队来说，他们所处的位置也令人羡慕。这轮系列赛已经明确了他们有多优秀、他们的上限有多高，以及他们还需要些什么才能夺得总冠军。在某种程度上，这是一种奢侈。
马刺队内天赋横溢。文班亚马堪称世界第八大奇迹。21岁的斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 在这轮季后赛中一直扮演着攻防两端的粘合剂角色。20岁的哈珀则是一位早熟的后卫，看起来未来必将成为最佳阵容的常客。28岁的福克斯已经是一位全明星级别的控球后卫。
然而，他们却常常自己击败自己。在这轮系列赛的每一场比赛中，他们都曾取得过两位数的领先，但最终却只赢下了一场。他们太容易因为粗心大意和注意力不集中而犯错。他们的天赋让他们能够接管比赛，但对天赋的过度依赖也让他们付出了代价。尼克斯凭借着马刺目前所欠缺的狡黠与坚韧，一步步蚕食着马刺的领先优势。
“我们觉得这四场比赛的胜负其实都取决于我们自己，”马刺主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 在周三深夜表示。
这是一个双刃剑般的评价。马刺目前还缺乏冠军级别的收割比赛能力。
第二场比赛结束前，文班亚马传给卡斯尔的提前球是一场悲剧；而周三第三节结束时，福克斯那记不知传向何处的横穿全场传球则是这一悲剧的重演。在这轮系列赛中，卡斯尔已经两次在进攻时间即将结束时，通过犯规将困在底角的尼克斯球员送上罚球线，从而给对手解了围。约翰逊在叫暂停以遏制尼克斯反扑高潮时总是慢半拍。而在第四场比赛还剩不到15秒时，福克斯那个饱受诟病的决定——强行冲入禁区上篮而不是稳下节奏重新组织——即使打成，也没有太大的实际收益。
马刺有时确实能压制住尼克斯，他们一次次强攻篮下，在内线得分并制造罚球。这是他们最无可争议的优势，但他们也太频繁地放弃这一武器。周三下半场，他们的进攻陷入停滞，因为他们早早地在进攻时间刚开始时就选择用中投和三分球来解决战斗。
“我们需要继续给篮筐施加压力，冲击内线并拼抢篮板，因为即使是最好的三分机会，你也不可能百发百中，”约翰逊说道，“我们在下半场投丢了一些非常好的机会。无论结果或比分如何，你都必须保持足够坚韧的意志，去坚持打出我们自己的篮球风格。”
这些瞬间与尼克斯一路咬牙拼搏、逼近总冠军的方式形成了鲜明对比。他们在东部决赛第一场中逆转了克利夫兰骑士队 (Cleveland Cavaliers) 22分的领先优势，随后又在总决赛第四场中完成了29分的惊天逆转，更上一层楼。
这些错误和崩盘虽然令人痛苦，但也表明马刺距离巅峰仅有一步之遥，只需稍作调整。引领他们走向巅峰的核心阵容已经初具雏形，而且非常年轻，足以在未来很长一段时间内保持竞争力。
这个休赛期将至关重要。这轮系列赛和季后赛之旅暴露了一些缺陷。尽管拥有福克斯，马刺仍然需要更多的组织者。哈珀应该会成长为一名顶尖后卫，但谁将与他搭档后场？他们能否在文班亚马身边增加更多的投手，并为他找到合适的长期内线搭档？
文班亚马曾有过闪光的时刻，但也有陷入挣扎的阶段。尼克斯有时会在身体对抗上压制他，并暴露了他倾向于在防守压力下退到外线寻找安全感的习惯。在第四场比赛的下半场，他基本上没有发挥出作用，14投仅3中，在比赛结束时显得精疲力竭。他距离被禁赛只差一次技术犯规，这让他处于一个非常微妙的境地。
马刺同样处境艰难。就在不久前，他们还差一点就能带着主场优势回到圣安东尼奥，去迎接总决赛最后三场比赛。当时看起来，他们似乎终于找到了对付尼克斯的办法。
但那不过是幻觉。如果马刺无法在接下来的比赛中完成一次超越尼克斯第四场那样的逆转，他们现在就将徘徊在痛失总冠军的边缘。这轮系列赛应该成为马刺的启示录和教科书。他们已经明白自己距离王座有多近，也清楚了要夺得NBA总冠军，他们还有多长的路要走。
并非所有如此年轻且富有天赋的球队，都有机会明白这个道理。
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' Game 4 collapse has a silver lining: A chance to grow from their mistakes
Spurs’ Game 4 collapse has a silver lining: A chance to grow from their mistakes
NEW YORK — The sequence of events that led to OG Anunoby’s game-winning, Madison Square Garden-shaking, NBA Finals-turning tip-in was preceded by a raft of incoherence.
Dylan Harper pointed around and looked back at the San Antonio Spurs’ bench, seeking direction. Victor Wembanyama stretched his go-go-gadget arms out wide, wondering what more guidance he needed, before rushing over to push Harper away from the 3-point line to guard another New York Knicks player at half court. No one guarded Anunoby as he inbounded the ball with 5.7 seconds left, and no Spurs player even looked at him until he flew over all of them for one of the most important shots in NBA history. He won Game 4, and maybe an NBA title, with his fingertips. Sometimes that’s all it takes.
The Spurs are down 3-1 in the finals after one of the most devastating losses in the league’s history. How else to describe a collapse that left nothing but broken psyches in its wake? The Spurs were up 29 points with 9:40 remaining in Wednesday’s third quarter after De’Aaron Fox nailed an elbow jumper, and they did not score again for the next 5 minutes and 5 seconds. It took an unfathomable loss to flip a series that seemed to be trending their way at halftime.
The Spurs head home with regret for Saturday’s Game 5. It is a place no franchise wants to be.
But they also are in an enviable spot for a team so young. This series has clarified how good they are, how good they can be and what else they still need to win it all. It is a luxury, in some ways.
The talent oozes from the Spurs. Wembanyama is the eighth wonder of the world. Stephon Castle, 21, has been a two-way glue guy during this playoff run. Harper, 20, is a precocious guard who has the look of a future All-NBA team staple. Fox, 28, is already an All-Star point guard.
And yet, they too often fall apart on themselves. They have held double-digit leads in every game this series and have won just one. They are too often prone to mistakes borne of carelessness and inattention. Their talent has allowed them to take over games, but their overreliance on it has cost them. The Knicks have walked the Spurs down with a cunning San Antonio has lacked so far.
“We feel like we’ve decided the outcome of all four games,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said late Wednesday night.
It was a double-edged observation. The Spurs have lacked the finishing touches of champions.
Wembanyama’s push-ahead pass to Castle at the end of Game 2 was a tragedy; Fox’s cross-court pass to nowhere at the end of the third quarter Wednesday was a reprise. Twice this series, Castle has bailed out Knicks players stuck in the corners late in the shot clock by committing a shooting foul. Johnson has been slow to call timeouts to snuff out the runs that have powered Knicks comebacks. Fox’s infamous decision to charge ahead for a layup with less than 15 seconds left in Game 4, rather than pull back, had little upside even if it was successful.
The Spurs have overwhelmed the Knicks at times, bullying their way to the rim repeatedly for points in the paint and free throws. It has been their most undeniable skill, but they have also abandoned it too frequently. Their offense went cold in the second half Wednesday as they settled for jumpers and 3s early in the shot clock.
“We need to continue to put pressure on the rim and touch the paint and crash, because you don’t always make even the best 3-point looks,” Johnson said. “Missed some really good shots in the second half. You have to continue to be tough-minded enough to play the brand of basketball, regardless of the outcome or what the score is.”
Those moments stand in contrast to all the ways the Knicks have been able to gnash their way to the edge of a championship. They walked the Cleveland Cavaliers down from a 22-point lead in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, then topped it with a 29-point comeback in Game 4 of the finals.
These mistakes and meltdowns, painful as they are, show that the Spurs are just tweaks away from the mountaintop. The core that will guide them there is already in place and so young that it can last a while.
This offseason will be a consequential one. This series and playoff run have revealed some flaws. The Spurs, despite Fox’s presence, still need more playmakers. Harper should grow into a top-notch guard, but who will go alongside him? Can they add more shooting around Wembanyama and find the right long-term frontcourt partner for him?
Wembanyama has had moments of brilliance but also pockets of struggles. The Knicks have pushed him around at times and exposed his tendency to seek safety on the perimeter. He was largely ineffective in the second half of Game 4, missing 11 of 14 shots and looking gassed by the end. He is one more technical foul away from a suspension, a tricky place to be.
As are the Spurs. It was not that long ago that they were on the verge of heading to San Antonio with home-court advantage for the final three games of the finals. It seemed as if they had finally figured out the Knicks.
But that was just an apparition. The Spurs are now teetering on the edge of a stinging finals defeat if they cannot conjure up a comeback that surpasses the Knicks’ one in Game 4. The series should serve as a revelation and an edification for the Spurs. They’ve learned how close they are — and how much further they must go to win an NBA title.
Not all teams this young and talented get to find out.
By Mike Vorkunov, via The Athletic