The Western Conference has been such a tight race this year, fromNovember through today; no one team has dominated the top spot in theconference.
从去年11月赛季开始至今，西部联盟竞争异常激烈，没有任何一支球队能够一直稳居榜首。
Phoenix, New Orleans, L.A. and San Antonio have all had their turnat the top of the uber-competitive slate, while Houston's 22-game winstreak has vaulted them to the top when they were counted completelyout in some minds just a few short weeks ago.
Portland looked as if they had the momentum to make the Rockets stayhome for a while, and Denver is politely knocking at the door, butlacking the hunger to bust the thing down and get inside this EliteEight.
Two weeks ago, nearly everyone had written off the Phoenix Suns …until their win over San Antonio eight days ago propelled them on afour-game (and counting) win streak and the Spurs have dropped fromfirst to sixth while we all took a short bathroom break.
That is how tenuous and competitive this jockeying is; how vital every game, every bucket, and every turnover.
这告诉我们今年西部的竞争力和形势的微妙所在：每场比赛、每次进攻和每次失误都很关键。
Two things have remained consistent throughout, though.
但是，两件事情从头到尾都没有发生变化。
One is the fact that you can hardly put money on any given team onany given day. The other will be discussed after we look at fivepotential Western Conference match-ups that we would love to see:
Monta Ellis and Leandro Barbosa are the league's fastest ballhandlers and really defy you to blink while watching. While the Sunsmay have developed a reputation for 7 Seconds or Less in the pre-Shaqera, there have been many instances where Don Nelson's boys have abucket from end-to-end with 20-22 seconds remaining on the shot clock.
This is a series -- from a fan's perspective -- that you want to goseven games. If David Stern could script the games, this match-up wouldbe his Oscar winner.
这确实是一次精彩的系列赛——从球迷的眼光来看——如果你想看7场比赛的话。如果斯特恩能够导演这次比赛系列赛的话，这足以让他成为在奥斯卡评选中获奖。
Result: Phoenix 4, Golden State 3
White men may not be able to jump, but this head-to-head wouldfeature two of the league's best big men who can shoot the lights outfrom 15-25' on any given spot-up.
Dirk Nowitzki and Mehmet Okur, assuming both are having good nights, would overshadow the Deron Williams - Jason Kidd duel.
假设说诺维茨基和奥库两个人都能发挥好的话，他们对抗的光芒将掩盖威廉姆斯和基德的对抗。
While Dallas is one of those teams that seems to be lumped into thepublic opinion that screams they made a wrong move in letting youth andsavvy (Devin Harris) go for age (Kidd), the jury is still out on thefinal impact Kidd can have.
Dirk and Memo may light it up from the arc, drawing defenders out ofthe paint and opening the lanes, so the question at the end of the dayremains -- who would operate best, the athletic Williams or theexperienced Kidd?
Two of the league's Most Valuable Players0yet-to-be-named as such gohead-to-head when the upstart Hornets face the experience of KobeBryant and Laker tradition.
No one counted the Hornets in except Byron Scott, Chris Paul and theboys in-house in the Big Easy. This is a team on a mission, and theyhave not wavered a bit.
The same goes for Bryant's Lakers. Their mission was to sate Bryantenough that he would clamp down on the trade requests and remain loyalto the purple and gold.
湖人也是相同的情况。他们的任务是让科比放弃交易要求，仍然对紫金湖人保持忠诚。
The end result for both teams has been an impassioned, gritty,grind-it-out effort every game of the season … and the playoffs look tobe no exception, rather an elevation of that passion and determination.
While this series would certainly go the distance if it lines up tooccur, you have to think that Phil Jackson still has another rabbit inhis hat and has a way to get to Ring No. 10 while Scott knows Lakertradition … and maybe how to get around it for the upset.
Nevertheless, this ultimately comes down to Paul and Bryant, twovery viable MVP candidates when all is said and done. Moreover, if theLakers want their dynasty status to return, Paul may be the person theyultimately have to land if the Hornets ever slip up and allow him tobecome a free agent.
Any Texas battle is an entertainment experience, but the pride ofthe Lone Star State may be on the line when all is said and done at theend of the regular season. And with Houston's resurgence -- sans YaoMing -- one has to wonder if the Spurs' backs are not the ones on thewall.
On the other side of the ball, the Rockets have jelled as a cohesiveunit under Coach of the Year candidate Rick Adelman. Most wrote Houstonoff as news emerged about Yao's season-ending stress fracture.
Not because of Adelman, but because of the mercurial, seesaw game ofTracy McGrady. Call him 'Cookie,' because he has historically crumbledunder pressure, but T-Mac has seemingly matured into the leader andunselfish player everyone had envisioned him being in Toronto andOrlando.
Instead, he has been a pillar, even eliciting chatter of MVP. Yet,at 22 games, it still seems like you are looking over your shoulder,waiting for that bubble to burst. Waiting to be pinched back intoreality.
If anyone can do that, it is the Spurs, whose three-headed monsterof Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker is always lethal. Aging,but lethal at any given time. However, are four titles enoughexperience? Furthermore, do they have enough in the tank?
The Suns have ousted the Lakers in the past two post-seasons.
太阳在过去两个赛季的季后赛中阻挡了湖人前进的步伐。
Kobe Bryant had had enough.
科比已经受够了这一切。
Tears welling in his eyes from the frustration, he made demands fromthe podium in Phoenix before the 2006-07 season had even begun todevelop rigor mortis.
失利后泪水不断流下，2006-07赛季还没有结束，科比还在凤凰城就要求球队做出调整。
A summer of calling out his teammates and the Lakers organization asa whole, the second-chance wooing and romancing of Bryant all summerlooked like a redux of any given soap opera script in Hollywood.
尽管整个夏天一直指责队友和球队管理层，但科比的要求似乎更象是为好莱坞的肥皂剧提供了台词。
Nevertheless, Bryant and the Lakers owned up to Laker tradition onceit came time to lace it up. Players like Luke Walton, Jordan Farmar,Andrew Bynum, Lamar Odom, and a steadying force in legendary leaderDerek Fisher banded together (initially) to try and give Bryant areason to stay.
Then the regular season began, with a 21-point thumping of the Sunsin their own crib, and the dialogue between Mike D'Antoni and PhilJackson began a rivalry not this heated since Raja Bell clothes linedBryant two years earlier.
Nothing says NBA Playoffs like a strong, respect-filled rivalry, and the Suns and Lakers have it.
没有人说NBA的季后赛就象一场激烈和充满敬意的竞赛，但是湖人和太阳的系列赛就是这样。
On Christmas Day, the Lakers would once again embarrass the Suns,this time on national TV. It put Amare Stoudemire on a mission that hehas not wavered from since, averaging insane numbers that -- in anyother year -- may have him in consideration for MVP or at least MostImproved.
It also re-established that the Lakers and Laker tradition wereback … and Bryant was comfortable in remaining a Los Angeles Laker. 这场比赛也让湖人找回了以往的传统，而科比也对仍为湖人效力表示满意。
It was January 17th before the Suns got retribution for the twoearly season spankings, but L.A. won the season series a month laterwhen Shaquille O'Neal debuted like a colt with the wobbliest of legsagainst his old team.
Both teams have improved since then, as O'Neal has gotten enoughlegs back to sprint down for a fast break bucket Saturday night and theHack-A-Shaq theory may dissipate with the free-throw rehabilitationprogram Assistant Coach Phil Weber is putting The Diesel through.
On the other hand, L.A.'s twin towers of Pau Gasol (let him be theoffensive guy) and Andrew Bynum (locking down the paint on 'D') shouldboth be healthy come May when these teams go toe-to-toe in the secondround … or even better, the Western Conference Finals.
"Let's see them try that in the playoffs where we bust them everyyear," D'Antoni said of Jackson's alleged mind games on November 2nd.
“让我们看看他们在季后赛中，我们将如何痛扁他们。”德安东尼在回应杰克逊11月2日的言论时如是回应。
Hope he has some gravy to put on that, because the Lakers may make Mike D'Antoni eat those words.
希望他还能有心情记得这些，因为湖人的表现很有可能会让他低头认错。
Result: Los Angeles 4, Phoenix 3 That's right, the other consistentthing this season has been the Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant.
对了，本赛季一直发挥稳定的是湖人和科比。
Bryant is the league's only viable MVP candidate, far above LeBronJames and the rest, simply because the Lakers have resurrectedthemselves with the same personnel in the locker room -- they were aNo. 1 team in the conference before acquiring Gasol.
This may be their year … and Phil Jackson's 10th piece of bling when all is said and done.
今年也许是湖人年……杰克逊有可能会拿到自己的第10枚戒指。
Many would say this is the pinnacle of a basketball purist'sentertainment package. These are two teams that have played two similarstyles of basketball over the past couple of seasons, with excitingresults and finishes.
