By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer / San Antonio Express-News, 2026-10-25 14:01:47
2026年10月24日星期六，在达拉斯举行的NBA篮球比赛下半场，圣安东尼奥马刺队前锋维克托·文班亚马 (Victor Wembanyama)（1号）受到达拉斯独行侠队前锋丹尼尔·加福德的防守。（美联社照片/Julio Cortez）
周六深夜，美国航空中心球馆的记分牌以最直观的方式记录了比赛结果：马刺122，达拉斯独行侠106。
然而，客队更衣室里的气氛却仿佛是另一场比赛的结果。
马刺队在残阵出战的独行侠身上拿到了本赛季的首场胜利，但主教练米奇·约翰逊 (Mitch Johnson) 却毫无开香槟庆祝的心情。
“如果你在场内，你会以为我们输掉了比赛。”后卫达龙·福克斯 (De’Aaron Fox) 说道。
六个月后，没有人会记得马刺当时是以0胜2负的战绩、步履蹒跚地来到达拉斯，面对一支缺少两名首发和另外四名轮换球员的独行侠，并在前三节的大部分时间里陷入苦战。
但约翰逊不会让他们现在就忘记这一点。
“我们打了三场比赛，每场比赛都有一些时段被打得很惨。”约翰逊说，“有很多事情是我们能够控制的，我们必须在这方面做得更好。”
在揭幕战负于宿敌俄克拉荷马城，以及不到24小时前在奥斯汀惜败于休斯顿之后，马刺带着绝佳的机会来到达拉斯，终于有望在胜场栏上记上一笔。
他们注定不会赢得轻松。
面对缺少二年级新星库珀·弗拉格（肩部扭伤）和全明星后卫凯里·欧文（轮休）等人的达拉斯，马刺在首节就丢了31分。这是三场比赛以来，马刺的防守第三次在首节丢掉30分以上。
禁区——通常有维克托·文班亚马坐镇时的禁飞区——几乎成了独行侠的飞行表演场。达拉斯上半场在禁区得到46分，创下队史纪录，约翰逊称这个数字“荒谬至极”。
他们还让达拉斯新秀塞尔吉奥·德·拉雷亚打出了仿佛勒布朗·詹姆斯再世般的表现，替补登场砍下24分。
到第四节时，马刺仅以92-89的微弱优势领先，直面0胜3负开局的现实可能。
他们用本赛季打得最好的一节比赛做出了回应，以30-17赢下末节。
“谢天谢地，”后卫迪伦·哈珀 (Dylan Harper) 说，“我们赢下了比赛。”
一个状态回暖的第四节足以让马刺将战绩提升至1胜2负，却不足以让他们的主教练心情好转。
马刺能够取胜，部分归功于维克托·文班亚马。他摆脱了又一次慢热的开局，最终拿下23分和4次盖帽。哈珀贡献22分，后卫福克斯和斯蒂芬·卡斯尔 (Stephon Castle) 各得19分，并合计送出17次助攻。
新秀中锋小塔里斯·里德 (Tarris Reed Jr.) 在末节为马刺注入了活力，他在最后一节的短短三分钟内抢下三个篮板，扭转了比赛走势。
赛后，约翰逊称赞了这位23岁的里德的“努力和能量”。
“当你用正确的方式打球时，这种精神是会传染的。”约翰逊说。
约翰逊只能希望，当马刺周二回到主场迎战萨克拉门托时，这种“传染”能够延续下去。
“努力至关重要。”约翰逊说，“这些球员天赋出众，只要保持持续的努力，再加上一点团结和执行力，就能真正成为可以依靠的基石。我们只是在很多方面还不够稳定。”
在上赛季通往NBA总决赛的神奇之旅中，马刺曾让人们看到，当他们的努力与天赋相匹配时，上限能有多高。
而约翰逊在新赛季开局阶段，却一直在担心马刺的下限跌得有多低。
“我们现在下限太低了。”他说。
文班亚马表示，他并不指望马刺在新赛季一开始就能像季后赛期间那样全神贯注。
他也没想到球队会以1胜2负开局。
“我不会说这是从头再来。”文班亚马说，“但我也不会说我们是从上赛季结束的地方继续前进。介于两者之间吧。”
“我们不如季后赛时那么好，这很正常。”他补充道，“但我们打得像目前为止这么差，这就不正常了。”
马刺还在磨合一套全新的首发阵容，哈珀与福克斯、卡斯尔组成三后卫后场。这套组合已经展现出潜力，但主次次序仍在摸索之中。
更宏观地看，马刺一直难以保持比赛的强度和对细节的关注。上赛季帮助他们一路杀入总决赛的防守，如今反常地漏洞百出，而进攻端也仍在寻找节奏。
眼下，马刺关注的重点不是对手，而是那支最有可能击败他们的球队——他们自己。
“这就是我们的标准。”福克斯说，“关键不在于胜负记录，而在于我们以怎样的方式去打球。”
这就是约翰逊在达拉斯的赛后更衣室里向球队传达的信息——在一场胜利之后，那感觉却可疑地像是一场失利。
他的球员们表示，他们已经接收到了这个信息。
“我们必须相信这个过程，把握住大局。”文班亚马说，“我们还在建设之中。这正是常规赛的意义所在。每一场比赛都很重要。这是伟大球队的标志。”
由生成式 AI 翻译，翻译内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
查看原文：Why Mitch Johnson wouldn't let Spurs celebrate their first win
Why Mitch Johnson wouldn’t let Spurs celebrate their first win
San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) is guarded by Dallas Mavericks forward Daniel Gafford during the second half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)
The scoreboard lights at the American Airlines Center late Saturday night told the story in black and white: Spurs 122, Dallas Mavericks 106.
Inside the visitors’ locker room, however, the mood suggested a different result.
Spurs coach Mitch Johnson wasn’t in the mood to pop champagne corks after his team earned its first victory of the season against the short-handed Mavericks.
“If you were in there, you would have thought we lost the game,” guard De’Aaron Fox said.
Six months from now, nobody will remember how the Spurs limped into Dallas with an 0-2 record to face a Mavericks team down two starters and four more rotation players and, for the bulk of three quarters, found themselves locked in a dog fight.
Johnson was not about to let them forget now.
“We’ve played three games, and we’ve got stretches of the games where we’re getting our butts kicked,” Johnson said. “There’s a lot of things we can control and we’ve got to be better at that.”
After a season-opening loss against archrival Oklahoma City and less than 24 hours removed from a down-to-the-wire defeat against Houston in Austin, the Spurs headed into Dallas with a prime chance to at last put a tick in the win column.
They made sure it would not come easy.
The Spurs allowed 31 points in the first quarter to a Dallas team missing star sophomore Cooper Flagg (shoulder sprain) and All-Star guard Kyrie Irving (rest) among others. It was the third time in three games the Spurs’ defense coughed up 30-plus points in the opening frame.
The paint, usually a no-fly zone with Victor Wembanyama around, was practically a Mavericks air show. Dallas scored 46 points in the paint in the first half, a franchise record and a figure Johnson called “ridiculous.”
They made Dallas rookie Sergio de Larrea look like the second coming of LeBron James on his way to 24 points off the bench.
By the fourth quarter, the Spurs were clinging to a 92-89 lead and staring at the very real possibility of an 0-3 start.
They responded with their best-played quarter of the season, winning the final frame 30-17.
“Thankfully,” guard Dylan Harper said, “we got a win.”
A sharpened-up fourth quarter was enough to improve the Spurs’ record to 1-2, but not enough to improve their coach’s mood.
The Spurs won in part thanks to Victor Wembanyama, who shrugged off another cold start to finish with 23 points and four blocks. Harper added 22 points, while fellow guards Fox and Stephon Castle contributed 19 points apiece and combined for 17 assists.
The Spurs got a fourth-quarter boost from rookie center Tarris Reed Jr., who grabbed three rebounds during a three-minute stretch of the final frame that turned the game.
Afterward, Johnson praised the 23-year-old Reed’s “effort and energy.”
“It’s contagious when you play the right way,” Johnson said.
Johnson can only hope the contagion spreads when the Spurs return home Tuesday to face Sacramento.
“Effort goes a long way,” Johnson said. “As talented as these guys are, consistent effort with just a little bit of togetherness, execution can really be something to build upon. We just have not been consistent enough in a lot of ways.”
On their magic carpet ride to the NBA Finals last season, the Spurs offered a glimpse of how high their ceiling can reach when their effort matches their talent.
Johnson, meanwhile, spent the early going of the new season worried about how far the Spurs’ floor has fallen.
“Our floor right now is way too low,” he said.
Wembanyama said he did not expect the Spurs to begin the new season as locked-in as they were during the playoffs.
Neither did he expect a 1-2 start.
“I wouldn’t call it starting over,” Wembanyama said. “But I wouldn’t call it starting where we left off either. It’s in between.
"It’s normal that we’re not as good as we were during the playoffs,” he added. “It’s not normal that we’re as bad as we’ve been so far.”
The Spurs are also breaking in a new starting lineup, with Harper joining Fox and Castle in a three-guard backcourt. The combination has shown promise, but the pecking order remains a work in progress.
More broadly, the Spurs have struggled to sustain their intensity and attention to detail. A defense that helped fuel last season’s run to the Finals has been uncharacteristically porous, while the offense is still finding its rhythm.
For now, the Spurs are focused less on their opponents than on the team most likely to beat them — themselves.
“That’s the standard,” Fox said. “It’s less about the win or the loss column. It’s about the way we go out and play.”
That was the message Johnson delivered his team in the postgame locker room in Dallas, after a win that felt suspiciously like a loss.
His players say the message has been received.
“We have to trust the process and keep the big picture right now,” Wembanyama said. “We’re building. That’s what the regular season is for. Each game matters. That’s the sign of great teams.”
By Jeff McDonald, Staff Writer / San Antonio Express-News