火箭總冠軍?克里斯 奪冠之匙 保羅
Austin Rivers had heard the rumblings about Chris Paul.
奧斯汀-裏弗斯最近聽到了不少人們對克里斯-保羅的指指點點。Rivers, who knows Paul's game as well as any of the Houston Rockets after playing with him for three and half seasons with the LA Clippers, didn't see Houston much early in the season but acknowledged, "Everybody's been saying (Paul was) just a little flat or whatever."
小裏曾在快船與保羅共事三個半賽季，他比任何一個休斯頓人都清楚保羅有多出色，雖然他是今年中途纔剛剛加入的火箭，但他承認：“所有人都在說他打得一般般。”"(But) since I've been here, he's been pretty damn good," says Rivers, a bargain signing for the Rockets in the buyout market right after Paul suffered a hamstring strain in December that caused him to miss 17 games.
“可是，自我來到休斯頓之後，他（保羅）一直很強勢，”裏弗斯說。去年十二月，保羅由於腿筋傷勢休戰17場，火箭因此也在買斷市場簽下了裏弗斯救急。
"We play through James (Harden) and Chris. We trust those two. Honestly, I'm not just saying this, we still feel like Chris is one of the top-tier point guards in the league. When he's on his A-game like he is now, there's not too many point guards who are better than him."
“我們的打法圍繞着詹姆斯-哈登和保羅展開，大家都信任他們。這不只是嘴上說說的，我們依然覺得克里斯是頂級控衛。只要他打出自己的水平，那聯盟裏沒有幾個控衛能比得上他。”Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni has seen this situation play out before during his time coaching a certain two-time MVP with the Phoenix Suns.
火箭教練邁克-德安東尼其實經歷過類似狀況，之前他曾在太陽執教過兩連MVP史蒂夫-納什。"I saw Steve Nash do the same thing," D'Antoni says when asked why he's so optimistic about Paul's future. "Dallas gave (Nash) up for dead, but they didn't know his brains and how much he wanted it and how much he was willing to sacrifice his life to prepare himself to do it.
“我看過納什做到同樣的事情，”德安東尼表達了對保羅的樂觀，“達拉斯當時徹底放棄了納什，但他們根本不瞭解他的球商和對勝利的渴望，以及他那種爲之放棄生命的意志，全身心地投入準備。”"As long as (Paul) has that, there's no way he's going to get dumber or whatever. ... I'm telling you, he's going to be right there with (the all-time great guards)."
“只要保羅有這些品質，那他就不會有所謂的下滑之類現象，我話放這兒了，他必定能進入到歷史最偉大控衛之列。”Paul's scoring (15.8 points per game) and field goal percentage (41.9) are at career-low levels, but there's no doubt that he has been a dominant force despite inconsistent shooting during the Rockets' recent surge.
保羅的場均得分（15.8）和命中率（41.9%）都是生涯最低；但在火箭最近的連勝中，毫無疑問，即便保羅的投射並不穩定，他依然是一個巨大的助力。That trend tracks to even before the current six-game winning streak started with a road win over the Warriors, when Paul had 23 points and 17 assists to lead Houston to a victory without Harden.
而這樣的現象在火箭這波連勝之前就存在了，客場對陣勇士的比賽裏，保羅得到了23分17助攻，帶領哈登缺陣的火箭拿下勝利。Paul is averaging 16.6 points, 9.9 assists and 5.6 rebounds in the past 11 games, which coincides with his minutes restriction being lifted following his recovery from the hamstring strain.
過去11場比賽，保羅場均有16.6分9.9助攻5.6籃板，而恰恰在這段時間，他的上場時間限制也解除了。
The Rockets' second unit, with Paul running the show, is dominating opposing benches again like it did last season. His net rating during that stretch is plus-11.7 points per 100 possessions, by far the best of Houston's starters.
火箭的替補席在保羅的運營調配之下，把對手的板凳摁在地上摩擦，找回了上賽季的風采。保羅的每百回合淨效率值達到了11.7，是這段連勝期間火箭全隊最高。Since Paul returned to the lineup on Jan. 27, the Rockets have an offensive efficiency of 117.1 when he is on the court and 106.4 when he is off the floor. And according to Second Spectrum, he has created 6.8 "wide open" looks per game for his teammates this season, most in the NBA (that number jumps to 7.4 since Jan. 27, which is also tops in the league during that span).
自從1月27日保羅復出後，他在場時火箭的進攻效率達到了117.1，他下場後則爲106.4。根據Second Spectrum提供的數據，保羅本賽季每場能爲隊友創造6.8個空位機會，全NBA最高。（1月27日至今的比賽裏，保羅每場能幫隊友找到7.4個空位，在同期間依然領銜全聯盟。）D'Antoni expresses complete confidence that Paul can continue starring deep into his 30s, much like high-IQ Hall of Fame point guards of the past such as Nash, John Stockton and Jason Kidd.
德安東尼對於保羅擁有絕對的信心，相信他能夠在奔四的年紀繼續發光發熱，如同當年的名人堂控衛納什、約翰-斯托克頓和傑森-基德。But one major difference between Paul and both Stockton and Kidd is that the men who rank first and second in NBA history in assists were remarkably durable deep into their careers.
斯托克頓與基德分列歷史助攻榜前二，與這兩位相比，保羅有個巨大的不足——生涯末期的健康狀況不好。Stockton missed a total of 22 games in his 19 years, playing every game — only 50 during the 1998-99 lockout season — in 17 different seasons.
斯托克頓在19年生涯中一共只缺席了22場比賽——17個賽季中他做到了全勤（由於1998-99賽季停擺只出席50場）。When Kidd finally won a title at age 38 with the 2010-11 Dallas Mavericks, it marked the sixth straight year he played at least 80 games in the regular season.
基德雖然在38歲纔在達拉斯贏得冠軍，但在那個賽季的之前六年，基德每年都能出場至少80次。Paul, on the other hand, missed 21 games in 2016-17, 24 last season and 23 (two to suspension) this season.
另一邊，保羅在2016-17賽季缺席了17場，上賽季24場，本賽季23場（其中兩場是由於禁賽）。Rehashing that painful history is pointless for Paul, as relentless a competitor as there is in the NBA. His plan is simple: Keep putting in the work.
現在再說這些意義不大，保羅依然是NBA中最具競爭心的人之一。他的計劃也很簡單：不斷努力。"One of the things I've always prided myself on is preparation," Paul says. "Freak accidents happen or whatnot. Injuries, they come and go. But preparation is about discipline.
“我對自己最驕傲的一點是我未雨綢繆的意識，”保羅說，“各種怪事隨時會發生，傷病來來去去，但爲之做好準備就要靠自律了。I prepare myself every day, every day. If I prepare the way that I know that supposed to, whatever happens, happens."
每天我都會做好準備，只要我做好這些，諸事皆可坦然面對。”更多精彩內容請關注微信公衆號、新浪微博：籃球英文堂
