翻译自：http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5584907.html March 1, 2008, 11:02PM Stakes raised for Rockets 越来越多的威胁等着火箭 Nuggets start stretch of games against league's better teams 火箭开始挑战联盟较强的队伍，从金块开始。 By FRAN BLINEBURY Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle On the cusp of tying the franchise record for consecutive wins, this is where the heavy lifting starts for the Rockets. 当火箭写下超屌的连胜纪录时，同时也为严苛的挑战揭开序幕。 After 14 victories in a row and surviving the staggering loss of All-Star center Yao Ming to a stress fracture in his left foot, the race has only just begun. 在痛失姚明却还能接连把对手干掉缔造十四连胜之後，季後赛的竞赛才正要开始。 In other words, now comes the hard part. 换句话说，日子要开始不好过了！ With the Denver Nuggets in town tonight, the Rockets will launch into a stretch of the schedule that is treacherous and pivotal to their postseason hopes. Nine of their next 12 games are against teams seeded into the playoffs. 随着今天晚上对金块的比赛，火箭将要面对一连串机车的赛程，那对他们挑战季後赛的 希望非常关键。接下来的12场比赛有9场会面对到可望打进季後赛的队伍。 "I look forward to it," Tracy McGrady. "I really do. We've been playing some Eastern Conference teams that we really should beat before the ball even goes up. 「我对这很期待阿，」T-mac说。 「真的！我们之前和东区打了很多场，那些都是我们本来就应该赢的。」 "Now we have a team that's a few games behind us, and this is going to be a test for us. Because I'm sure they're going to come in here and they're going to give us their best shot. I really want to see how good we really are when we face a team like that." 「现在要对上只落後我们几场比赛的队伍，这对我们将是个考验。因为我相信他们正要来 到这儿好好射我们一番。我真的想看看现在我们球队对上这种强队时到底有多棒。」 The Nuggets, in ninth place in the West, are three games behind the seventh-seeded Rockets, who just completed only the second undefeated month in franchise history. The teams split the first two meetings, and the winner of this one will have a leg up in a possible tiebreaker scenario at the finish. In Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony, Denver has the highest-scoring 1-2 punch in the NBA. 金块现在是西区第九，落後给第七的火箭三场比赛，而火箭最近刚完成队史第二次单月 全胜。前两次交手两队战成平手，今天的胜队将可以在最後战绩并列时取得优先晋级的 资格。金块拥有NBA里最会得分的二人组：AI＋melo。 "Around the league, they're probably saying our streak ends (tonight) against Denver," Rafer Alston said. "It's a team that we're trying to fend off. Right now, they're where we were a week ago — in ninth and trying to climb back into the race. They are a dangerous team." 「看看这联盟，一堆人说我们的连胜可能会在今晚结束在金块手上，」Alston说。 「我们正试着避开发生这种事，他们现在就像一个礼拜前的我们，排名西区第九而且试着 杀进西区前八。他们真是支危险的球队。」 It only gets tougher 只会越来越艰难 But the Nuggets are only the first obstacle in what might look like a high-hurdles race over the next three weeks. By the time they play in Phoenix on March 22, the Rockets will have faced five of the six teams ahead of them in the West — Dallas, New Orleans (twice), L.A. Lakers, Phoenix — in addition to No. 8 seed Golden State and Boston, the team with the best record in the NBA. 不过金块只是未来三周火箭连胜的第一个障碍物，在3/22 对太阳之前，火箭将会面对 西区前六的其中五队：小牛、黄蜂（两次）、湖人、太阳，另外还得对上目前的第八种 子勇士，以及目前联盟战绩最佳的赛尔提克。 "It's going to be tough," Alston said. "Those are some good teams. We know we've got to eventually run into those teams that are slotted one through five. We've got to go through San Antonio, Phoenix, Dallas. We've got to take it one game at a time." 「真的会变的很难打，」Alston说。 「那些都是强队，我们知道终究得面对这些强队：马刺、太阳、小牛。我们只好一场一场 干掉他们罗。」 And the Rockets have to do it at a time when the bull's-eye on their backs keeps growing with the length of their winning streak. 当连胜不断持续下去时，火箭的背後就像贴了一个慢慢变大的靶心似的成为各队的目标。 这时候就更必须把这些比赛一场一场拿下来。 "Absolutely, it gets bigger," McGrady said. "A lot of teams are looking for us. Especially when we're about to start playing Western Conference teams and we are going to get everybody's best shot." 「显然地，我们背後这靶心越来越大了，」T-mac说。 「一堆球队都想干掉我们。尤其当我们开始面对西区各队时，我们就像是要被每个人的 最佳一击给射中。」 The challenge is to keep doing the things that have been successful — defense, rebounding, scoring in transition, balance — while not putting too much emphasis on any one game or one opponent as a yardstick. 现在的挑战就是保持之前连胜所做的事--防守、篮板、得分、平衡。然而也不要太强调 任何一场比赛或任何一只队伍作为衡量的标准。 Talking points "That's not a discussion we have amongst ourselves," Shane Battier said. "We don't say, 'OK guys, let's go out and show everybody that we can play against playoff teams.' All we can control is our preparation and readiness. 「我们自己从来没讨论过这个，」Shane Battier说。 「我们不会去说，『好，让我们去证明可以干掉季後赛强队给大家看 ！』。我们能控制 的就是赛前的准备。」 "You know what? Einstein's theory of relativity is not being discussed in the locker room. The politics of Afghanistan is not being discussed. The migrating patterns of the Norwegian cockatoo? Not being discussed. It's a lighter fare." 「你知道吗？我们不会在更衣室讨论爱因斯坦的相对论，阿富汗的政治也不关我们鸟事， 那挪威鹦鹉的迁徙呢？当然也不会被讨论。在更衣室里是很轻松的。」 The race is on Yet the Rockets, like everyone else in the tightly packed Western Conference race, are not oblivious to the rising stakes of every game. 就像其他在竞争激烈的西区队伍，火箭对於每场比赛越来越多的威胁并没有不以为意。 "We move on to a team that's right next to us in the playoff race," coach Rick Adelman said. "That's what it's going to be all about. We know the type of team that Denver is. They have two All-Stars. They're a high-scoring team. They can take it at you. It's another challenge for us. 「我们要面对一只季後赛排名就在我们後面的队伍，」 Adelman说。 「就是这样阿，我们知道金块是支什麽样的球队，他们有两个全明星，他们是很会得分的 队伍，他们可以干掉你。对我们来说，这又是另一个挑战。」 "I think any time you play one of the better teams in your conference and you've moved yourself to where we are, sure, it's always going to have more meaning to it." 「我想，每次面对到同区的强队时，你也必须把自己置身於其中，当然，这总是会变的 很有意义。」 [email protected] -- 每次Battier的回答都蛮有特色的....挪威鹦鹉的迁徙....这啥例子阿XD --

※ 发信站: 批踢踢实业坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 220.133.25.171 ※ 编辑: barkleyc 来自: 220.133.25.171 (03/03 18:25)