全明星前瞻:幾大看點吊足胃口

2017 NBA All-Star Preview: Storylines To Watch

全明星前瞻：幾大看點吊足胃口

The long shadows cast by Kobe Bryant's farewell tour during the 2016 All-Star Weekend are now gone.

在2016年的全明星週末，當時即將退役的科比-布萊恩特吸引了所有人的目光。如今科比的告別巡演已然落幕。

setting up the NBA's 2017 midseason showcase for a whole new batch of rich storylines.

但全明星從來不缺少新鮮的話題。

1. How will Russell Westbrook coexist with Kevin Durant and the Warriors?

拉塞爾-威斯布魯克將如何與凱文-杜蘭特以及勇士球員共存？

The Warriors have scored three routine wins in their clashes with the Thunder this season, but not without triggering plenty of bad blood and subliminal shots.

雖然在本賽季和雷霆的三場交鋒中勇士取得了全勝的戰績，但比賽過程充滿了火藥味。

Tensions boiled over in Oklahoma City on Saturday, when Kevin Durant made his first return visit to Oklahoma City and was greeted by angry mobs in "Cupcake" t-shirts and an exchange of words with Russell Westbrook.

上週六勇士赴客場挑戰雷霆，這也是杜蘭特加盟勇士後在俄克拉荷馬打的第一場比賽。不出所料，他受到了球迷們“熱情”的歡迎。很多主隊球迷都穿上了印着“紙杯蛋糕”字樣的T恤。杜蘭特本人在比賽中還和威斯布魯克噴起了垃圾話。

While Durant's new team had the last laugh, stomping all over the Thunder and then co-opting the t-shirts for their post-game interviews,

勇士笑到了最後，他們在客場完勝雷霆。勇士球員甚至還穿上了“紙杯蛋糕”T恤參加賽後採訪。

Westbrook at least succeeded in maintaining his unblemished and defiant lack of forgiveness towards Durant.

至於威斯布魯克，從他的表現看來，他絲毫不想原諒杜蘭特。

All-Star Weekend should give Westbrook the perfect opportunity to take his delightful pettiness to new heights.

“睚眥之怨無不報”，對於威斯布魯克來說，全明星週末是一次完美的機會——在更大的舞臺上展現自己個性的機會。爲什麼這樣說呢？

First, he's one of the few A-listers who take this game somewhat seriously, claiming back-to-back All-Star Game MVPs in 2015 and 2016.

首先，威斯布魯克會在全明星比賽中認真打球（或者說比其他人認真一點），這樣的球員並不多見，他也強勢蟬聯了過去兩年的全明星MVP。

Second, he will be surrounded by the enemy:

第二，威斯布魯克已經被敵人層層包圍：

Warriors coach Steve Kerr will coach the Western Conference, whose roster includes four of his players in Durant, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

西部明星隊的主教練是勇士主帥史蒂夫-科爾，勇士的四員大將杜蘭特、斯蒂芬-庫裏、克萊-湯普森以及德雷蒙德-格林全部入選西部全明星。

Third, Westbrook will have nowhere to hide and he knows it.

第三，威斯布魯克無處可藏，他本人也明白這一點。

The NBA's triple-double leader will need to go through press sessions, team photographs, practices and the game itself with the Golden State squad,

作爲本賽季的三雙王，威斯布魯克不僅要和這羣勇士球員一起參加新聞發佈會、拍攝定妝照、練習、比賽。

not to mention the courtside guffawing that usually takes place on Saturday night.

一般來說，週六晚上全明星們會在場邊聚在一起，“愉快”地觀看單項比賽。

Fourth, and perhaps most crucially, he is sure to be hammered with question after question about his relationship with Durant, which apparently is still not on speaking terms.

第四，也是最重要的一點，記者們一定會鋪天蓋地殺將過來，詢問他關於和杜蘭特有關的問題。顯然，威斯布魯克是不願意談論這個話題的。

How will Kerr play this? Will he lean into the drama and put Westbrook on the court with his four stars?

科爾會怎麼做呢？他會順應民意把威斯布魯克和勇士四將同時派上場嗎？

Will he play Westbrook, who was bumped to the West's bench in favor of Curry due to the fan vote, enough to facilitate another run at the MVP award?

另外，雖然由於球迷投票環節不敵庫裏導致威斯布魯克只能屈居替補，但他的表現完全是MVP級的。

Will he showcase Durant to make a statement? Then, how will Westbrook respond?

那麼，科爾會給威斯布魯克充足的上場時間嗎？他會給杜蘭特表現的機會嗎？威斯布魯克又將作何迴應？

Will he freeze out Durant if they share the court? Will he surprise everyone and play nice?

如果杜蘭特和威斯布魯克同時上場，威斯布魯克會給杜蘭特傳球嗎？威斯布魯克會和杜蘭特和諧共存嗎？

Will he get angry and shut down questions? Will he find a creative way to sabotage the team picture?

還是說他會化身憤怒的神龜？亦或是創造性地破壞西部明星隊的化學反應？

The answers are only days away.

讓我們拭目以待吧。

2．Will trade talk overshadow the proceedings?

交易流言對全明星週末的影響

NBA reporters were so close to avoiding the worst of the annual trade rumor mill.

本賽季深陷交易流言的全明星並不少：

While All-Stars like DeMarcus Cousins, Jimmy Butler, Paul George and Paul Millsap have all had their names surface in trade rumors this season, there hasn't been much recent momentum around any of them.

比如德馬庫斯-考辛斯、吉米-巴特勒、保羅-喬治以及保羅-米爾薩普。目前來看他們短期內離隊的可能性都不大。

Sacramento has apparently pledged to keep (and re-sign) Cousins. Chicago would be up a creek without Butler.

國王管理層已經明確表態會留下考辛斯（重新與他簽約）。如果失去巴特勒公牛會淪爲樂透球隊。

Ditto for Indiana and George. And Atlanta has repeatedly said that Millsap, a natural target given his upcoming free agency, will remain in town.

步行者也是同樣的處境，他們不想失去喬治。老鷹也表示如果米爾薩普跳出合同球隊將重新和他簽約。

But just when it looked like the trade deadline talk might hold off until early next week, NBA commissioner Adam Silver named Anthony as Kevin Love's injury replacement.

下週交易截止日就將到來。在這個關頭，亞當-蕭華宣佈安東尼將頂替受傷的凱文-樂福入選全明星。

While trading Anthony is difficult given his desire to remain in New York, his no-trade clause and his contract's trade kicker,

由於安東尼本人希望留在紐約，因此想交易他並不容易，況且他的合同中還有着不可交易條款以及交易保證金。

the Knicks' nonstop drama and president Phil Jackson's repeated jabs at his forward are sure to receive blanket coverage during Anthony's media sessions.

球隊內部不停發生的鬧劇以及球隊主席菲爾-傑克遜對安東尼的持續指責都將尼克斯推上了風口浪尖。

This is nothing new, of course, as Anthony has been the subject of trade or free agency speculation at All-Star Weekend dating back to his time in Denver.

在全明星週末的媒體日安東尼可有的忙活了。這樣的事情已經不是第一次發生了，當年還在掘金打球時安東尼就面臨過同樣的處境。

Anthony aside, teams like the Celtics, Wizards, Rockets and Clippers continue to look like logical buyers in the wake of the Raptors' move to gear up for the playoffs by landing Serge Ibaka.

除了安東尼，像凱爾特人、奇才、火箭以及快船這些球隊都在積極嘗試引進球員。就在幾天前，爲了提高球隊在季後賽的競爭力，猛龍從魔術交易來了賽爾吉-伊巴卡。

Meanwhile, the Pistons, Blazers, Mavericks and Kings, among others, fall into the "Might as well do something to do something" camp.

另外，像活塞、開拓者、小牛以及國王這樣的球隊，都陷入了不上不下的尷尬境地。

Even if none of the biggest names move, there should be plenty of chatter to track.

也許以上這些交易最終都只會停留在流言層面，但在交易截止日前，一切皆有可能。

3. Can the Slam Dunk Contest live up to last year's classic?

扣籃大賽會像去年那樣精彩嗎？

Don't dwell on the fact that back-to-back defending champion Zach LaVine opted not to pursue a three-peat before he suffered a season-ending knee injury.

前不久扎克-拉文因膝蓋傷勢而賽季報銷，連莊扣籃王也因此無法踏上三連扣籃王的征途了。

The LaVine-less field—2016 runner-up Aaron Gordon, 2017 All-Star DeAndre Jordan, Glenn Robinson III and Derrick Jones Jr.—remains loaded with talent and well-balanced stylistically.

當然，江山自有人才出，拉文去年奪冠道路的最大對手阿隆-戈登、2017年全明星德安德魯-喬丹、格倫-羅賓遜三世以及德里克-瓊斯將爲觀衆奉獻一場視覺盛宴。

4. Who will prevail in a loaded Three-Point Contest field?

誰將在競爭激烈的三分大賽中奪魁？

One major advantage of the NBA's current pace-and-space era? It's getting easier and easier to field excellent Three-Point Contest fields.

在如今這個小球戰術盛行的年代，越來越多優秀的三分射手得以大展身手。

Yes, Stephen Curry is sitting out this year, but his Warriors teammate Klay Thompson is back to defend his 2016 crown.

斯蒂芬-庫裏沒有參加今年的三分大賽，而他的隊友克萊-湯普森將爲了衛冕三分王而戰。

Joining Thompson are three other 2017 All-Stars—Kyrie Irving, Kyle Lowry and Kemba Walker, plus 2016 Most Improved Player CJ McCollum,

除了湯普森之外，還有三名入選本屆全明星的球員也將出戰今年的三分大賽，他們是凱里-歐文、凱爾-洛瑞以及肯巴-沃克。此外，參賽者還有2016年最快進步球員獲得者CJ-麥科勒姆，

2017 Sixth Man of the Year favorite Eric Gordon and the NBA's consensus Most Swaggy Player, Nick Young.

2017年最佳第六人的有力爭奪者埃裏克-戈登以及著名的單打王、最酷炫吊炸天的球員——尼克-楊。

Through Wednesday, all eight players were shooting at least 38.7% on threes and ranked in the top 22 in three-point attempts.

截止到週三，這七名球員的三分命中率全部在38.7%以上，並且三分出手次數都排在聯盟前22名以內。

This group possesses starpower and charisma, sports two past champions in Thompson and Irving, and has zero weak links.

這將是一次星光燦爛的三分大賽，7名參賽者中湯普森和歐文都拿過三分王，另外5名球員也盡是三分好手。

5. Can the guards get revenge in the Skills Challenge?

後衛們能在技巧大賽上重整旗鼓嗎？

The NBA finally hit on a successful formula for the Skills Challenge by pitting guards versus big men last year.

後衛和內線分組對抗的創意使得去年的技巧大賽大獲成功。

With talented bigs like Karl-Anthony Towns and DeMarcus Cousins in the mix, the oft-overlooked event was one of 2016's pleasant surprises.

由於天才內線卡爾-安東尼-唐斯和德馬庫斯-考辛斯的加入，去年的技巧大賽給人們帶來了驚喜。

Who could have predicted the sheer joy that followed Towns's contest-sealing three-pointer to top Boston's Isaiah Thomas?

誰能想到唐斯會在最後的決賽中憑藉三分投籃力壓凱爾特人的以賽亞-托馬斯呢？

This year's field is loaded with All-Stars and future All-Stars:

今年的技巧大賽同樣是衆星雲集：

Anthony Davis, Cousins, Nikola Jokic and Kristaps Porzingis will represent the bigs while Thomas, Gordon Hayward, John Wall and Devin Booker will hold it down for the guards.

安東尼-戴維斯、考辛斯、尼古拉-約基奇以及克里斯塔普斯-波爾津吉斯組成了大個子隊；托馬斯、戈登-海沃德、約翰-沃爾以及德文-布克將代表後衛們參賽。

The only disappointment? Philadelphia's Joel Embiid, the odds-on favorite for 2017 Rookie of the Year, was a late scratch.

唯一的遺憾應該算是喬爾-恩比德的缺席了。幾乎已經預定年度最佳新秀的“大帝”由於傷病將無法出戰技巧大賽。

Surely "The Process" would have found a way to steal the show if not for a minor knee injury.

如果不是膝蓋的傷勢，相信“過程”一定會大出風頭的。

6. Who wants to gush over the young bigs in the Rising Stars Challenge?

恩比德缺席，誰將成爲新秀挑戰賽上最亮眼的大個子？

Although Embiid's absence will also be felt in the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night, there are plenty of other headliners to help cover for him.

恩比德同樣會缺席週五晚上的新秀挑戰賽，不過NBA從來不缺少青年才俊。

Let's start with Karl-Anthony Towns, Nikola Jokic and Kristaps Porzingis who, along with Embiid, constantly find themselves in the "Who's the next great big man?"

讓我們把目光對準卡爾-安東尼-唐斯、尼古拉-約基奇以及克里斯塔普斯-波爾津吉斯。這三名球員，再加上恩比德大帝，誰纔是下一個超級內線呢？

The Rising Stars game pits aUSteam led by Towns, Myles Turner, Devin Booker and Lakers lottery picks D'Angelo Russell and Brandon Ingram against a World Team that features Jokic, Porzingis and 2016 lottery picks Jamal Murray, Buddy Hield and Domantas Sabonis.

唐斯、邁爾斯-特納、德文-布克以及湖人的榜眼丹吉洛-拉塞爾、布蘭登-英格拉姆將領銜美國隊，對陣由約基奇、波爾津吉斯以及16屆樂透新秀賈馬爾-默裏、巴迪-希爾德和多曼塔斯-薩博尼斯領軍的世界隊。

Look for Towns, Booker, Jokic and Porzingis to make early cases for 2018 All-Star selections.

這將是唐斯、布克、約基奇和波爾津吉斯爭奪18年全明星選票的預賽。

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