Rivalry renewed for Celtics and Lakers - 波士頓塞爾提克 Boston Celtics

http://0rz.tw/85483
By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports

(慶祝勝利過後，也來看看過去的湖人vs賽爾提克是如何成為經典對戰的吧!)

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Less than 24 hours after the Staples Center crowd
chanted "We want Boston," a small, upper deck cadre of Celtics fans who had
infiltrated the Palace of Auburn Hills broke out their own famed refrain:

湖人球迷在主場喧騰著: "We want Boston"，不到24小時後，滲透在奧本山宮殿的超賽球
迷也開始喊著那著名的口號﹕

"Beat L.A.! Beat L.A.!"

Bust out your short shorts, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, the
two most storied franchises in the game and ancient bitter rivals, are back.

球迷們，BOS和LAL兩支最傳奇的球隊以及最經典的對戰，終於回來了！

With a gritty 98-91 Eastern Conference title-clinching victory over the
Detroit　Pistons, Boston did its part just a day after the Lakers did theirs.
The NBA Finals begin Thursday in Boston, the climax of an improbable season
that one year ago saw Kobe Bryant demanding to be traded from the Lakers and
the draft lottery cursing the Celtics.

就在湖人晉級的隔天，超賽也以98-91擊敗活塞獲得晉級。總冠軍首戰將會在美國時間的
星期四在波士頓舉行。在過去這一季，兩隊動盪的最高點分別是﹕Kobe要求被交易，而超
賽沒抽到樂透籤。

No one saw this coming then. Everyone will be watching now.

當時沒人想到會有這樣的結果，而現在每個人都在看。

"I think that rivalry really revolutionized the game of basketball," Celtics
forward Paul Pierce said.

「我覺得湖賽對戰徹底改變了籃球比賽。」PP說。

It featured some legendary series, an endless parade of future Hall of Famers
and heated, occasionally violent action. Eventually there was a grudging
respect built on the acknowledgement of mutual greatness, most notably between
Magic Johnson and Larry Bird.

這個對戰成就了傳奇的系列戰、此後無數的名人堂遊行，以及偶發的暴力事件。而最後終
於願意彼此尊重、也承認對方的偉大，尤其是對魔術強生和大鳥兩人。

It was more than that, though. The back-and-forth regular-season games were
appointment television, the eyes of the two teams forever focused on each other.
The rivalry went national, with neutral fans often choosing sides; everything
from geography, style of play and race-dividing loyalties.

但事情沒有這麼簡單。在例行賽中，兩隊的對戰是球迷一定要準時收看的，兩邊人馬的焦
點都集中在對方身上。而且影響力還擴大到全國，中間球迷常常要選邊站，每件事從地理
位置、打球風格到對比賽的忠誠都可以選邊。

This will be different, a sped-up version based as much on history as
hostility. If the players aren't as personally committed though, the respective
fan bases will more than make up for it.

兩隊交戰的加油添醋版本除了因為雙方的敵意外，還有歷史上的因素。即使球員本身並沒
有這麼忠於球隊，球迷的忠誠會彌補起來。

"It means everything to Boston fans," Pierce said.

「對波士頓的球迷來說，這代表了一切。」PP說。

That was evident as the brave green-clad fans whooped it up in Detroit's gym
once the Finals appearance was secure. The ball had been passed to Kevin
Garnett, the biggest of the Big Three who's ability to "envision" himself in
Celtics green and give up on his bottomed-out Minnesota team last summer made
this happen.

最明顯的例子，就是那些勇敢的綠衣球迷們在確定超賽獲勝之後，直接在活塞的地盤上歡
呼吶喊。三巨頭中最高大的KG，也是因為看見穿上綠衫後奪冠的希望，才在去年夏天離開
了家鄉明尼蘇達來到這裡，讓這一切發生。

As the final seconds and the "Beat L.A." chant faded into the air, Garnett
clutched the ball aloft in jubilation, the biggest step yet in his dream of
winning his first - and the Celtics' 17th - championship this spring.

喊完 "Beat L.A."之後，KG把球高舉，來慶祝他生涯中最重要的一大步，這離他的夢想
-他的第一座&超賽的第17座冠軍盃-更近了。

"I used to watch on Sunday, that big plate of food in front of me, watching
the Lakers and the Celtics play, Hubie Brown and Dick Stockton doing the game,"
said Garnett of his childhood in rural South Carolina. "I remember it like it
was yesterday. (I'd say) 'I'm (going to) grab me a seat right in front,'
Mom telling me, 'Don't get too close to the TV, it'll kill your eyes.'"

「我以前常常在星期天，拿著一大盤的食物坐在電視機前看湖賽的比賽，那時是Hubie
Brown 和 Dick Stockton。」KG提起他在南卡鄉村的童年時光。「彷彿就在昨天而已。我
會說﹕我要坐在電視機前面看﹔然後我媽就會告訴我﹕別坐太靠近電視，你的眼睛會壞掉
。」

Garnett laughed.

KG笑了。

"I'm looking forward to this."

「我很期待。」

Just about everyone is.

幾乎每個人都是。

Each team used monster trades and perfect chemistry to secure the top seeds
in their conferences. Boston took a long, hard playoff route here (20 games),
but that doesn't matter now. The Celtics' biggest worry will be finding a way
to slow Bryant, the league's brilliant MVP. The Lakers have to deal with the
multi-headed monster of the Big Three, any one, two or all of whom can burn you
on a given night.

兩支隊伍都運用了巨大的交易和完美的化學作用來確保他們的分區冠軍地位。超賽花了很
長的時間，且歷經艱辛(20場比賽)才抵達這裡，但現在已不重要了。超賽最大的麻煩是如
何防守Kobe這個聯盟傑出的MVP; 而湖人則是必須和這隻多頭怪獸對抗，三巨頭的任何一個
或兩個或全部都可以把你打倒。

Mostly it is a chance for NBA commissioner David Stern to remind fans of some
of their fondest basketball memories, while reveling in the attention of two
big-market franchises.

最主要的，這也是總管史騰的機會，可以喚醒球迷們過去最回味無窮的記憶，同時也陶醉
在兩個聯盟最大市場的關注下。

Boston has 16 NBA titles, the Lakers 14. Their rivalry, while most recently
heated in the 1980s, goes back to the days of Bill Russell and Wilt
Chamberlain. Boston's legendary Red Auerbach and the Lakers' Phil Jackson are
tied for the most titles won by a coach at nine (although Jackson won six of
them with Chicago).

塞爾提克擁有16座、而湖人擁有14座冠軍盃。儘管他們的對戰是在80年代開始加溫，最早
的對戰其實是從Bill Russell 和 Wilt Chamberlain的時期就開始了。波士頓的傳奇紅頭
教練和湖人的禪師各自都拿過9次最佳教練頭銜 (禪師其中有6座是在公牛王朝拿到的)。

Before Auerbach passed away in 2006, he took numerous shots at Jackson for
never building a champion but just taking over an excellent team. If Jackson
wins this year, that will no longer be the case.

在紅頭教練過世前，好幾次打擊禪師說他從來不打造冠軍球隊而只是在管理一支好球隊罷
了。如果禪師的湖人今年贏了，這個說法就再也不成立了。

Regardless, you'll hear that bitterness - and so much else - brought up
repeatedly over the next few weeks.

但無論如何，你都將會聽到那些酸溜溜的言語-還有其他更多-不斷地在未來的幾週內出
現。

"It's going to be fantastic," said Doc Rivers, the oft-maligned Celtics coach
who made it work nonetheless. "When we played them in L.A. earlier this year,
I thought the atmosphere was nuts. And I told the guys after the game, ' Boy,
it would be great if we could see them again.'

「這會是超乎想像的，」河流說。過去幾週這位飽受攻擊的超賽教練總算是走到這一步了
。「今年初在LA跟他們比賽時，我就覺得那裡的氣氛真是瘋狂。而賽後我告訴其他人﹕如
果能再對上他們就太棒了!」

"And the only way we could have seen them again would be the Finals. That's
the way it should be as far as I'm concerned."

「而唯一能再對上他們的機會就是進入總冠軍賽。」

Lakers-Celtics inspired people back in the 1980s. One of them was a lanky kid
from Inglewood, Calif., home of the Lakers' then-home court, the Fabulous
Forum.

湖賽對決喚醒了80年代的球迷，其中一個就是來自加州Inglewood (過去湖人的舊球場所
在地)的小孩-PP。

Paul Pierce would root against Boston and then go down to the park and
envision he was draining a last second shot to beat the Celtics. Now he returns
as their captain and leading scorer.

PP當時是反波士頓的，到公園打球時還會幻想自己投出致命的一擊，擊敗賽爾提克。而現
在，他是賽隊的隊長和主要得分球員。

"As a kid, I hated the Celtics," Pierce said. "I'm going back home to play
against the team that I grew up watching."

「我小的時候痛恨賽爾提克隊。」PP說﹕「而我現在要回到家鄉，去對抗我那個從
小支持到大的隊伍。」

As memories can be, the ones about L.A.-Boston have grown over the years,
the perception even bigger than the reality.

人們對於湖賽對決的回憶，經過了這幾年仍不斷地在增長，並且遠超過真實的狀況。

During the 1980s, there were actually just three head-to-head meetings in
the Finals - Boston winning in 1984, L.A. in 1985 and 1987. While they were
historic clashes, it wasn't the annual meetings some recall.

在80年代時，其實兩隊真正在總冠軍碰頭的次數只有三次，賽隊贏了1984、湖人贏了1985
和1987。即使這三次都是歷史上重大的比賽，湖賽並不是像某些人所想的一樣每年都在總
冠軍戰碰面。

Pierce was asked about his worst memory of the rivalry and he mentioned the
time Boston won the championship in L.A.

當PP被問到他印象中最慘烈的對戰時，他說是賽爾提克在LA拿到總冠軍的那次。

"They celebrated on the Lakers' floor," he said. "I was miserable."

「那次他們在湖人的主場慶祝勝利，」他說﹕「我真是難過。」

The thing was, it never happened, which will tell you more about the
impression and passion of this rivalry than the shaky memories of youth.

而事實上，這從未發生過。但這也表示湖賽對戰的給人留下來的深刻印象和激情，以及
年輕人不可靠的記憶力。

While the recollection of the game's location was false, Pierce's feeling
wasn't. Boston made him miserable back then; more than once. And that burning
pain and the ensuing triumphs still live in the heart of two fervent fan
bases that have waited 21 long years for another shot at each other.

雖然PP對於比賽地點的記憶是錯的，但他的感覺並沒有錯。賽爾提克的確曾經讓他很難受
，而且不只一次。而這些強烈的痛苦與連續勝利的喜悅依舊存活在這兩隊忠實的球迷心中
，他們已經等待了21年，只為了能再次看到這兩隊的對決。

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好長的一篇文，但是很有意思!
半夜睡不著來翻外電正好～XD

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