爵士隊在季後賽邁進一大步--直逼火箭隊 - NBA

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Monson: Jazz take a huge playoff step forward — straight to Houston

爵士隊在季後賽邁進一大步 -- 直逼火箭隊

By Gordon Monson


The exultant look on Donovan Mitchell’s face expressed everything anybody
needed to know about what happened in Game 6 at Vivint Arena on Friday night.

米邱爽翻的表情說明了第六戰發生的一切

Victory happened. Happiness happened. Satisfaction happened. Relief happened.
All to the benefit of the Jazz, who scored 96 points.

勝利、喜悅、心滿意足，心上一塊大石頭落了地。爵士隊用96分贏得了這一切

And if there was anything left untold, the troubled look on Russell Westbrook
’s face covered the rest.

還有什麼事情要補充嗎？那應該是西河那張賽臉....

Defeat happened. Disappointment happened. Elimination happened. All at the
expense of the Thunder, who scored 91.

輸球、失望、淘汰。雷霆隊91分輸球，付出慘痛的代價

As evidence of the unstable, unpredictable, downright fickle nature of a
best-of-seven playoff series, and the way it can pivot quicker than you can
explain the rudiments of a 5-out motion offense, the feel of the sixth game
here was quite different from what went on in Game 5.

七戰四勝的季後賽總是變幻無常、難以預料，戰局變化的速度總是超越你對戰術的理解，
雷爵的第六戰就是這樣，它和第五戰差太多了

Which is to say, the Jazz turned from a team that blew a 25-point lead,
allowing itself to get swamped by the sizable wake kicked up by the USS
Thunder, into a buoyant team that would not get sunk, even through its own
sloppy play and regardless of what OKC did.

意思是，爵士隊才剛丟掉25分的領先，讓自己被雷霆打得潰不成軍，變成一支載浮載沉看
起來快溺斃的隊伍，而且這是自己打太爛造成的，跟雷霆的表現無關

The positive vibe and warm encouragement of a building full of raucous Jazz
fans hurt not one bit.

一直吶喊加油的爵迷被傷透了心

Handling nerves, another step in the Jazz’s ongoing playoff progression, was
done in adequate measure, but, at times, it was rough. There were spans of
possessions that revealed the increased push and pull of the postseason, and
their effects on a group of players still learning about such circumstances.
But if any lingering hangover from the Jazz’s choke at the Chesapeake came
into play, the Thunder suffered in the here and now some of the same malady.

爵士收拾心情，重整旗鼓往前邁進，它們處理得不錯，但是這並不容易。很多球都看得出
來季後賽高張力的影響，嫩爵們也還在學習著消化這些情況。
但是如果爵士隊還像上一場雷霆主場的比賽那樣打得東倒西歪，雷霆打得也像是宿醉未醒

The Jazz did start slow, shooting 38 percent in the first quarter, laboring
on their heaves, especially from beyond the arc, where they made 28 percent.
The Thunder were just barely better.

爵士隊開場慢熱，第一節命中率38%，努力掙扎，尤其表現在他們的三分命中率只有28%。
不過雷霆也沒好到哪裡去

It got worse for the Jazz, their accuracy dropping lower and lower through
the first half — until they made a flurry of shots just before the break.
The fact that they were tied with the Thunder at 41 at that juncture was …
remarkable.

爵士上半場的命中率越來越糟－－直到中場休息前，才開始投順了幾球。事實上，他們竟
然能跟雷霆41分戰平真的是.....不可思議

In the second half, the Jazz gathered themselves. In addition to their rugged
defensive effort, they at last found some accuracy. Mitchell showed his
leadership — and his skill — by shoving the Jazz forward, hitting shot
after shot, ending up with 38 points. Through the third quarter, the rookie
nearly singlehandedly gave Utah a five-point lead, a 10-point lead … and …
at a number of points, as Mitchell shot free throws and after the game, the
crowd chanted, “MVP … MVP … MVP.”

下半場爵士甦醒了。他們的防守很硬，而且投籃找到了準星。整個第三節幾乎都靠菜鳥米
丘一己之力，把比分從五分、十分一直拉大。當米丘罰球的時候，還有比賽結束之後，爵
迷都瘋狂的喊著 "MVP... MVP... MVP...!"

That actually happened.

這是真的

Guys like Joe Ingles, Gobert, Derrick Favors, Royce O’Neale and Alec Burks
pitched in.

鷹勾、狗貝兒、費費、歐尼爾和Burks...每個人都在幫助整支隊伍前進

This time, there was no meltdown.

而且這一次爵士沒有崩盤

Collectively the Jazz were able to … what’s the best word? … contain …
no, that’s not quite it … Russell Westbrook, who scored 46 points. If
anything had been demonstrated through this series, it was that the only real
way the Thunder could win here is if their individual talent trumped the Jazz
’s teamwork.

爵士全體的奮鬥能夠...該怎麼形容呢..."限制"住西河?...不，不能這樣講，神龜砍下誇
張的46分。如果這系列賽說明了什麼，那就是雷霆只能倚靠個人的天賦來勝過爵士的團隊
合作

That’s what occurred in Games 1 and 5, and the script was altered in Games
2, 3, 4 and, finally, in Game 6.

這發生在第一和第五戰，但第二、三、四戰的劇本可不是這樣寫的，最後的第六戰也不是

The knockout punches came when the Jazz alternately handed the ball to
Mitchell and kept the ball popping at the offensive end. As they concurrently
reconnected that defense, with Gobert firmly in the middle against the Thunder
’s stars.

爵士隊把球交給米丘，讓他在進攻端炸裂，狠狠地重拳把雷霆KO。同時，他們的防守重新
連線，狗貝奮力擋下了雷霆三巨頭

Still, Westbrook is incredible.

神龜還是神

With the dark prospects of facing a Game 7 back in OKC hovering overhead, the
Jazz stuck with their plans, the same designs that had served them so well
over the past three months. And that methodology, that strategy did not
abandon them as they honored it, when they needed it the most — in a
closeout game against a quality opponent.

爵士最怕的就是回到雷霆主場打割喉戰，儘管壓力山大，他們還是照過去三個月來的勝利
方程式打球。這套戰略在爵爵最需要它的時候──在關門戰──沒有辜負他們的期待

The Thunder — apologies here — were never as done as they appeared after
the first four-and-a-half games.

抱歉囉，雷霆，你們表現得沒有前面幾戰那麼好

Afterward, the Jazz were jubilant, as they most certainly should have been,
crowning a season of surprise with the kind of advancement — toward the
waiting Houston Rockets — that seemed impossible in the doldrums of December
and the wicked winds of January.

爵爵們歡欣鼓舞，它們也應該開心。這個賽季他們的進步驚呆了所有人。現在擋在爵爵面
前的是西區第一的火箭隊，這在十二月和今年一月愁雲慘霧的時候簡直難以想像。

But there Donovan Mitchell was, alongside his teammates, smiling, eyes aglow,
celebrating a playoff series win with 18,000 of his best friends, hosting a
party that cemented 2017-18 as a year that set a foundation of promise — and
new levels of expectation and pressure, too — for seasons to come.

但是米丘和他的夥伴們正在笑著，眼眶泛紅，和整場一萬八千名最棒的爵迷慶祝這系列賽
的勝利，慶祝這一年為他們光明的未來奠定基礎。當然，新球季的願景和新的壓力都會到
來

All of that is true, no matter what happens next.

但不管接下來發生什麼，這一切都是真的

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恭喜爵士!!

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