丹佛掘金终于走出困境了吗？ [美国媒体]

For a stretch of 11 games spanning the end of the 2017 calendar year and January 19, the Denver Nuggets were entrenched in what was widely considered the team’s easiest stretch of the season. Several of the games came against teams with a worse record than Denver and seven of the games were at home, where the Nuggets have held a considerable advantage all year.

从2017年最后一天到2018年1月19日之间，丹佛掘金这11场季后赛冲刺阶段的比赛堪称是本赛季最轻松的旅程了。其中好几场对手的战绩比掘金的要更差，11场比赛里有7场在掘金主场举行，众所周知掘金在主场历来是有很大优势的。

In theory, a budding playoff team would have ran the table during this stretch and taken advantage of the somewhat soft schedule. But this is the Denver Nuggets, and nothing seems to come easy for this franchise. The team went 4-7 and momentarily slipped out of the playoffs. Tension heightened after Denver lost at home on the 29th【注1】 to the lowly Phoenix Suns, leaving fans and analysts wondering if the season was on the brink as the team transitioned into the most brutal part of the schedule.

理论上，一支渐露峥嵘的季后赛球队会很好地利用这趟轻松容易的赛程并争取全胜拿下。但这可是丹佛掘金呀，他们似乎对上谁都不容易。结果出来了，这一段的战绩是4胜7负，期间还被短暂得踢出了季后赛队伍。自从在1月19日【注1】主场输给鱼腩球队菲尼克斯太阳之后，掘金的局势就变得相当紧张了，球队粉丝以及NBA分析员都在猜想，接下来要面对的是本赛季最艰难的一段赛程，丹佛能否打入季后赛估计悬得很。
译者注1：原文是“29th”，应该是笔误，因为掘金和太阳的比赛发生在美国时间1月19日。

But then, it wasn’t.

没想到，掘金的表现出乎意料。

Since January 22, Denver has rattled off wins in five of seven games and narrowly losing the other two on failed buzzer beating attempts. The Nuggets beat playoff teams in Portland, Oklahoma City and Golden State and went toe-to-toe against Kyrie Irving and the Celtics on one night and the San Antonio Spurs on the next. The team now looks night and day compared to the seasonal affective Nuggets of early January.

自1月22日以来，掘金七场比赛里拿下五场，而且输的那两场都是因为最后绝杀没打进才惜败的。在手下败将当中就有季后赛球队开拓者、雷霆和勇士。期间还连续两日面对凯里-欧文率领的凯尔特人和圣安东尼奥马刺队，掘金都表现得旗鼓相当，不落下风。和一月份早些时候的那种起伏不定的表现相比，现在的掘金看起来完全是一个天一个地。

So what changed?

那么究竟掘金发生了什么变化呢？

Following the loss to Phoenix, coach Michael Malone mused over why the team was struggling and determined that he’d been calling too many set plays.. “I want to get back to being a team that’s hard to guard … and kind of get back to the offensive identity that we had last year,” Malone said. “Teams didn’t know what the (heck) we were doing last year,” he continued. “We just played.”

输给太阳之后，Michael Malone教练就一直在思索为什么球队表现得如此挣扎并最后得出结论是因为于他设置了太多常规的战术套路。Malone说：“我想让这支球队变回去年那种样子，让对手难以捉摸、难以防守……就像去年的那种进攻风格。”“当时那些对手根本猜不透我们的战术意图。”他继续说道：“我们就是在自由发挥。”

The emphasis on a free-flow offense for this roster seems shockingly obvious. Fortunately, it’s worked, and the results are showing both in the standings and on the stats page. Prior to January 22, the Nuggets held an offensive rating of 106.4, still respectable and 11th best in the NBA. In the seven games since, that number has jumped to 111.7 - the sixth best mark in the league.

对于掘金这样的阵容还强调自由进攻似乎挺不可思议。幸运的是，该办法还真有效，无论是战绩和统计数据都证明了此路可行。1月22日之前掘金的进攻效率是106.4，这仍然是不错的毕竟能在全联盟排到第11位。而最近的7场比赛结束之后，丹佛的进攻效率就去到了111.7——全联盟排第6位。

Nikola Jokic has returned to the quarterback position【注2】 and the offense has been humming. For the first time this season, the Nuggets are consistently fun to watch and the team has vibes of being a better version of the “December 15th” team of last season.

尼古拉-约基奇终于找回了往昔四分卫的风范【注2】同时在进攻端表现得挥洒自如。这还是本赛季第一次，丹佛的表现能不断地让我们有所期待，这支球队也逐渐有了气氛，就像是那支上赛季“12月15日”球队的加强版。
译者注2：此处应该是指尼古拉-约基奇能传球能策应，就像橄榄球比赛中的四分卫一样。

But the Nuggets quest for a playoff berth is far from over, no matter how amazing the last week and a half has been. Denver still only sits in the 8th seed of the playoffs in an extremely volatile Western Conference. The Nuggets hold just a one game lead over the new-look Los Angeles Clippers, but are also only two games back of the 5 seed. A lot can happen in the final 29 games of the season. To break its postseason dry spell, the Nuggets will have to overcome one of its worst vulnerabilities: playing to the competition.

话说回来，无论这一个半星期以来掘金表现得有多么神奇，他们想要就此坐稳季后赛的席位还早着呢。目前掘金在这个竞争激烈、变幻无常的西部还仅仅是季后赛的8号种子选手，不过落后第5位也只是2个胜场，同时还能领先刚刚大换血的快船1个胜场。赛季还剩下29场比赛，一切皆有可能。想要突破季后赛魔咒，掘金必须克服他们最大的弱点：半吊子的竞技状态。

For some reason, the Nuggets have yet to bridge the mental gap when it comes to beating opponents they are supposed to beat. The team almost always shows up during marquee matchups or on nationally televised games, but when it comes to the run of the mill games it’s often a different story. For every huge win over the Thunder or spoiler on Golden State, there has been a loss on two days rest to the Lakers or to the 76ers without Joel Embiid or to the lowly Phoenix Suns and Atlanta Hawks at home.

出于某些原因，掘金要学会调整心理上的落差以免在面对那些理应战胜的对手时轻敌。当对上实力相近的劲敌或者这场比赛有全国转播的话，掘金总跟打了鸡血一样充满干劲，但是一旦对上弱队画风就不一样了。每当有一场大胜赢了雷霆或者勇士之后，在两天时间里总能够输给像湖人，或者没有了恩比德的76人之类的对手，或者是在主场输给鱼腩太阳和老鹰。

On the year, the number of “good wins” (i.e. games they probably shouldn’t have won) and bad losses (games they probably should have won) probably cancel each other out. This is all good and normal. The Nuggets can truly reach the next level and stand apart, though, if they finally find a way to win almost all of the games against inferior opponents.

这一年里，他们“赢得漂亮”的比赛（就是这场本来不可能赢）和“输得难看”的比赛（就是这场本来不可能输）加起来应该可以互相抵消了。当然这一切都很好，很正常。不过，掘金若真能在对上弱队时找到稳赢的方法的话，他们毫无疑问可以百尺竿头，更进一步。

The offense has looked to be back to where it should be, and it has been on full display in the past seven games. The true test for these Nuggets will be if they can consistently play their style and control the tempo, and not the other way around. Upcoming matchups with Charlotte and Phoenix should provide some answers, but Denver also faces Houston and San Antonio twice and Milwaukee and the Clippers once each before February is over.

掘金的进攻风格已经正在调整回其应有的形式，同时在过去7场比赛中也得到了充分的表现。对于掘金来说真正的挑战在于他们能否保持住自己的风格并控制住节奏，而不会反过来被带节奏。接下来与黄蜂和太阳的比赛应该能让他们找到答案。而且在三月份之前，掘金要和火箭、雄鹿和快船还得各对上一次，和马刺得对上两次呢。

If the Nuggets can pull it together this will be a dangerous team. Add Paul Millsap back into the mix to shore up some of the defense, pull off a trade for an actual backup point guard by Thursday’s deadline and Denver could legitimately be a threat in the playoffs, and not just as an 8 seed. If Denver can’t break down this bugaboo, this magical stretch of basketball will be seen as just another short-lived streak in a roller coaster year.

掘金若能够振奋起来绝对是一支有威胁的球队。如果能等到保罗-米尔萨普的回归来增强球队的防守，或者在周四交易截止日之前换来一个真正的替补控球，掘金可以成为严格意义上的季后赛强者，而不仅仅是8号种子选手。反之，如果改不了这些莫名其妙的状态失常现象，那这7场比赛所展现出的亮点也不过是这“过山车”赛季中的又一次昙花一现而已。

The Nuggets look to be on cruise control. Hopefully this run is just the beginning, and not the peak, of a promising season.

掘金自然想找办法来控制车速。在这个期望有所收获的赛季，希望这倘过山车只是刚刚发车，而不是已经到了顶峰。