UntilRon Artest either helps the Lakers defend their title or sabotagestheir effort to do so, the bold decision to sign him with moneyoriginally earmarked for Trevor Ariza will continue to be discussed anddebated.
除非阿泰斯特帮助湖人卫冕总冠军成功或者阴谋破坏湖人卫冕大计,不然这一个拿原本攒起来给阿里扎的钱签下阿泰斯特的大胆决定将会继续被争吵辩论。
Artestand Ariza settled nothing in the Lakers' 103-102 overtime victory onWednesday night, but at least they both provided some great theater intheir first head-to-head meeting of the season.
在周三晚这场湖人加时以103-102险胜火箭的比赛中,阿泰和阿里扎最终也没闹出什么来,但是至少他们俩都为他们本赛季第一次碰面提供了一些插曲。
Withthe score tied at 89 and a half minute remaining in regulation, Artestsank a wide-open right-wing three after Kobe Bryant drove to thebasket, drew a double team and kicked it back to him. Itching to geteven, Ariza buried the game-tying 25-footer on the ensuing possessionwhen Artest and Derek Fisher lost sight of him in the scramble after ajump ball.
当常规时间只剩下半分钟之久而比分定格在89平的时候,科比杀入篮下,吸引了对方双人包夹,于是他把球往回一传,右翼的阿泰接球空位命中一记三分。然而,在之后的跳球之后,混乱中费舍尔和阿泰都防丢了阿里扎,而渴望追平比分的他投中了这一个25尺远的三分球。
"Poetic justice," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said.
湖人主教练禅师称这是“戏剧性的结局”。
Said Artest: "I think that was cool for the fans to see."
阿泰说:“我想球迷们看到这情景会很爽。”
Theback-to-back threes were certainly the signature moment of anothermemorable Lakers-Rockets clash, but the play that won the game belongedto Fisher.
这两个你来我往的三分球肯定是值得纪念的红黄人箭大战的一个经典时刻,但是赢得比赛的关键一刻归功于老鱼费舍尔。
Theguard who has built his reputation with clutch shooting this time cameup with a game-turning steal, preserving the Lakers' one-point lead bystripping Ariza as he attempted to drive for the potential game-winneron the final play of overtime. Bryant set up the play by denying Arizathe ball, forcing him to receive it farther from the rim than heintended as the clock ticked down.
这位老后卫正是因其关键投篮而出名,而这一次他贡献的是关键的致命抢断,当加时赛最后关头阿里扎杀入想要完成那潜在可能的绝杀时,老鱼费舍尔抢断了球,保住了湖人的一分领先优势。科比为这次抢断做了贡献,他逼使最后时刻阿里扎不能在离近篮筐的地方接到球。
"Iwas trying to deny him the ball as much as I could, and at that point Ithink they really didn't know what to do," Bryant said. "Trevor got itin a broken-play situation, Fish got his hand in there and knocked itloose."
科比说:“我尽我最大能力不让他去拿到球,而在那个moment,我觉得他们也不知所措了,阿里扎在未能执行战术的情况下,老鱼兄则把手摆在那里,拍松了他的球。”
Althoughthe Lakers have engineered more aesthetically pleasing back-to-backvictories than their consecutive overtime road wins at Oklahoma Cityand Houston, they've rarely had to work harder. Four starters,including an ailing Bryant, played 40-plus minutes for a secondstraight night, a product of a struggling bench and the absence of PauGasol.
即使比起在奥克拉荷马和休斯顿的两个艰苦的客场加时比赛,湖人以往更多的策划是赏心悦目的背靠背胜利,但是他们很少得这么辛苦地赢得胜利。4位首发球员,加上生病了的科比,他连续第二晚打了40+分钟之久,这都得怪罪于替补的闷骚表现,还有加索尔的缺席。
Ifthe Rockets were supposed to fade from the playoff picture this seasonwith Artest gone and Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady both hurt, it appearsthey aren't ready to accept that fate just yet. They showcased the samenever-say-die grit they did in taking the Lakers to seven games in thesecond round of the playoffs last May, forcing LA to rally from an80-73 fourth-quarter deficit and then leading for much of overtimeuntil Andrew Bynum's game-winning free throw with 24.7 seconds left.
如果是由于阿泰的离去以及姚明和麦蒂两个病号的原因而预测火箭将会消失在本赛季的季后赛名单中的话,看来他们还没打算好要接受这种命运。他们拿出了上赛季季后赛将湖人拖入7场大战时的不怕死的同样的态度,迫使湖人得在第四节73-80落后苦苦追赶,并且他们在加时赛剩下24.7秒时拜纳姆那赢得比赛的罚球之前的大部分时间里都是领先着。
Bryantled the Lakers with 41 points on 15-for-30 shooting in nearly 49minutes, his second 40-point night in his past three games. Bynum had17 points and 17 rebounds for the Lakers, while Carl Landry led Houstonwith 20 points.
科比在将近49分钟的时间里30投15中一共砍下41分,这是他近三场比赛得到第二次40+。拜纳姆为湖人贡献17分17板,而另一方面,兰德里得到了火箭队中最高的20分。
Sportinga fresh haircut meant to say "Lakers" in both Chinese and Korean,Artest scored 15 points on 6-for-14 shooting and punctuated his keylate three-pointer by sprinting to mid-court and signaling timeout tothe boisterous Houston crowd. Ariza also had 15 but on 5-for-21shooting, a sign he may have tried to do too much even though heinsisted that was not the case.
阿泰在炫耀他那用汉字和韩文写着“湖人队”字样的新发型,他此役14投6中,在比赛末段投中那个关键三分后,他急速跑到中场并且向着吵闹的火箭观众比起叫暂停的手势。阿里扎也有15分进账,但是他21投仅5中,或许这可以看出他很刻意要表现好,但是他坚称并不是那样。
"IfI was a person that looked to get revenge on people, it would be likethat, but I'm not that type of person," Ariza said. "I don't feel anyextra pressure to show them they made a mistake."
他说:“假如我是个会向他人报复的人,那么我可能会去那样子做,但是我并不是那样的人。我并没有特别有压力得向他们证明他们做错了决定。”