湖人:這個賽季,爲季後賽而奮鬥吧

"I think we have to go into the playoffs, or why are we playing?" asked the veteran center.

“我們得打進季後賽啊，不然我們還爲啥打球？”這位老將中鋒說道。

The answer to "why are we playing?" seemed obvious.

“不然我們還爲啥打球？”對於這個問題，似乎答案很明顯。

After winning just 17 games last year, the Lakers' primary goal should've been developing its squad of young, promising players like Brandon Ingram, D'Angelo Russell and Julius Randle. The team had no real shot to compete in the Western Conference.

湖人隊在經歷了一個17勝的賽季之後，首要目標就是培養隊裏年輕而有潛力的球員，比如布蘭登-英格拉姆、丹吉洛-拉塞爾和朱利葉斯-蘭德爾。而對於在西部和其他球隊競爭，球隊並沒有什麼認真的目標。

During its preseason forecast, predicted the Lakers would win just 25 games and finish dead last in the West.

ESPN在賽季前的預測中認爲，湖人本賽季只能贏25場，最終將毫無疑問地排名西部的最後一名。

Fast-forward to Wednesday night in Chicago: The Lakers, playing on the second night of a back-to-back, without their starting guard tandem of Nick Young and Russell, overcame a 14-point deficit to beat the Bulls, 96-90.

讓我們把時間快進到週三晚湖人客場與公牛的比賽：在背靠背第二場，且球隊缺少首發後場雙人組尼克-楊和拉塞爾的處境下，他們逆轉了14分的劣勢，最終以96-90戰勝了公牛隊。

With the win, the Lakers improved to 10-10—good for ninth place in the conference through almost a quarter of the season.

取得這場勝利後，湖人的戰績來到10勝10負——在賽季進行了差不多四分之一之後，湖人的戰績能夠排在西部第九。

"The fact that we are (at .500) speaks a lot to the effort that our guys are playing with (and) the trust they have with each other," coach Luke Walton said. "If we can keep playing hard and competing, I am confident we will get the more complicated stuff down as well and then we can make real growth happen."

“我們能達到50%的勝率，表明了隊員們的努力，和他們相互之間的信任，”教練盧克-沃頓說道。“如果我們能繼續這樣努力下去，保持競爭力，我相信我們將能夠克服更復雜的困境，取得真正的進步。”

Walton contends the Lakers are winning because of intensity more so than an understanding of what the coaches want on offense and defense.

沃頓認爲，湖人之所以能贏下比賽，一方面是球隊能夠理解教練組在攻防兩端的要求，更多的是大家的求勝欲更強了。

"The effort and the competitiveness have been off the charts almost every night for our guys, but we need to get the execution up to par with that," Walton said.

“大家的努力和拼勁幾乎在每場比賽都體現出來了，不過我們還需要提升執行力來與之匹配。”沃頓說道。

When it comes to Los Angeles' playoff hopes, the team won't catch the elite in the West like the Golden State Warriors (16-2), San Antonio Spurs (15-4) and Los Angeles Clippers (14-5).

至於湖人打進季後賽的希望：湖人不可能趕上西部的精英球隊，比如勇士（16勝2負）、馬刺（15勝4負）和快船（14勝5負）。

The Houston Rockets(11-7) are a top offensive group, the Oklahoma City Thunder (12-8) have All-Star Russell Westbrook averaging a triple-double and the Utah Jazz (11-8) are one of the NBA's best defensive squads.

火箭（11勝7負）進攻頂級，雷霆（12勝8負）擁有場均三雙的全明星後衛拉塞爾-威斯布魯克，而爵士（11勝8負）是聯盟中防守最好的球隊之一。

But the Memphis Grizzlies (11-8) are vulnerable. They're now without guard Mike Conley (back injury) for an intense six weeks during which they'll face some of the NBA's best, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Warriors and Clippers multiple times.

但灰熊（11勝8負）則有點脆弱。他們的後衛邁克-康利（背部傷病）將缺席關鍵的六週，在這期間灰熊需要多次對陣一些聯盟最強的球隊，包括騎士、勇士和快船。

The eighth-place Portland Trail Blazers (10-10) are struggling to find the same chemistry that made them a playoff darling last season.

第八名的開拓者（10勝10負）還在苦苦尋求着在上賽季季後賽中，隊裏曾經擁有的甜蜜化學反應。

The Lakers will draw the Grizzlies twice without Conley and the Blazers four times before the season comes to a close. Those six games could help propel the Lakers to the playoffs, considering how close these teams are in terms of records, provided L.A. survives injuries and a heavy schedule ahead.

湖人接下來要打兩次沒有康利的灰熊，此外在賽季結束前還有四次和開拓者交手的機會。考慮到三支隊伍在戰績上如此接近，加之湖人如今免於傷病，又在之前的艱難賽程中撐了過來，湖人贏下上述這六場關鍵比賽將極爲有利於打進季後賽的目標。

Of the Lakers' next 13 contests, 10 are on the road. Seven of the 13 are against teams currently slotted in the top eight of their respective conferences. To make matters more difficult, Russell is expected to miss at least the next three games while recovering from a sore left knee.

在湖人接下來的13場比賽中，有10場是客場，7場面對分區前八的隊伍。更艱難的是，拉塞爾由於左膝疼痛，據報道將缺陣至少三場比賽。

And Young will be sidelined for two to four weeks with a right calf strain—roughly eight to 15 games.

而楊由於小腿拉傷要缺陣2到4周，大概8到15場比賽。

But if the Lakers can get five of the 13, they'll be three games below .500 (15-18) heading into their Christmas Day matchup at Staples Center against the Clippers. Then it will be even more apparent that we need to take this team's playoff hopes seriously.

但只要湖人能贏下接下來13場中的5場，他們離50%勝率就還有3場的差距（15勝18負），並在此時迎來聖誕大戰，在斯臺普斯中心打快船。到時，到聖誕節後你就更明白了，湖人是真的有望打進季後賽的。

Including the holiday, the Lakers will next have 49 games left to build playoff momentum (with 21 on the road).

包括聖誕大戰，湖人接下來還有49場比賽來衝擊季後賽，其中21場是客場。

"I think effort will carry you a long way," Larry Nance Jr. said. "The more and more we play together, the more games and months go by—hopefully years go by—and we're all together, that's when you start to see the efficiency that a Golden State has. That's what we're looking forward to."

“我們付出的努力會讓我們走得更遠，”小拉里-南斯說道。“隨着我們一起打的比賽越來越多，日復一日、月復一月，希望也會是年復一年，我們都在一起打球，你就能看到我們打出像勇士隊那樣的效果。這是我們所期盼的。”

Meanwhile, the Lakers will need to hold off other challengers behind them in the standings, like the Denver Nuggets (7-11), Sacramento Kings (7-11) and New Orleans Pelicans (7-12).

同時，湖人也需要甩開在他們身後的其他競爭者，比如掘金（7勝11負）、國王（7勝11負）和鵜鶘（7勝12負）。

The Pelicans have recently surged with the return of Jrue Holiday and should get Tyreke Evans back soon from a knee injury. The Minnesota Timberwolves (5-13) also seem like they should be a lot better than their record.

鵜鶘最近隨着朱-霍勒迪的復出而狀態回升，而之後泰瑞克-埃文斯也將從膝傷中迴歸。森林狼（5勝13負）的表現似乎也比其戰績所顯示的要好得多。

Despite the Bleacher Report league-wide predicton that the Lakers would finish with the worst record in the NBA, the team's actual range may be seventh through 12th in the West.

雖然Bleacher Report的聯盟大預測認爲湖人將聯盟墊底，不過這支隊伍最終可能將排在西部的7-12名。

Mozgov seemed overly optimistic on media day, yet the veteran Russian center clearly saw a competitive fire in this Lakers squad that many overlooked.

莫茲戈夫在媒體日上看起來或許過於樂觀了，但這位俄羅斯老將中鋒顯然是發現了隊中燃起的進步希望，而這是許多人都未曾注意的。

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