翻一篇火箭专家的博客文章
这是火箭专家费根在今天火箭队战胜超音速之后写下的博客。
我的译文在二楼。
由于时间和水平有限，错误之处在所难免，敬请指正。
Play time over, it's time for Rockets to get serious again
So it turns out the Rockets are better without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady.
Or maybe not. I just thought I would be the first to go there. It makes as much sense as the nonsense about them being better without Yao.
But they were pretty good on Wednesday. They enjoyed themselves on their way to another rout of the Sonics and expect that game to be their last this season without McGrady.
He said that he will play on Friday against the Suns. The pain that led to him missing Wednesday's game was from the injection, rather than the injury, this one differing from previous injections because it went into the joint area itself, rather than the muscle much like the shots Jeff Bagwell used to get.
The Rockets believe he will feel much better than he has since the injury, which would make it a good time for him and his recently misfiring shot to take a game off before a four-game push to get ready for the playoffs.
Having finished their allotment of whippings of the Sonics - stretching their win streak against Seattle to seven-consecutive wins, their longest streak against their long-ago Western Conference rivals - they move up in weight class.
This is also a good thing. They begin a stretch against the Suns, Nuggets and Jazz, the latter two in a road back-to-back, tied with the Spurs for the second best record in the conference. The Spurs hold the tie-breaker with their better division record. (We can postpone for now the question of why division record is a tie-breaker in the conference standings).
The Spurs face the Sonics on Friday so to keep pace with San Antonio and hold off Phoenix, just a half-game back, the Rockets will likely have to win on Friday. But more important could be getting into playoff fighting shape.
The match up with the Suns is awful, probably the worst in the West because of Shaquille O'Neal and the absence of Yao. But the game against the Suns does offer a way to start getting ready for the playoffs.
The West is so good this season that any team they play in the first round will be brutally tough. At the moment, the Rockets are lined up just as they were last season, playing the higher-seeded Jazz but with homecourt advantage. That was not enough last season with Yao, but the Rockets certainly want that same homecourt advantage again, with the Jazz even better at home and even worse on the road this season than last.
With the Rockets going into these three games with just a one-game lead against the Jazz, the game in Salt Lake City on Monday might decide homecourt advantage in the playoffs.
Going to Utah for the second half of a back-to-back might not be what they want for a game that could be so important. But it's time to get playoff tough. The Rockets need to play better. They need to get McGrady back and get him sharp. They need to start the playoffs at their best, and getting there starts now.
They did enjoy Wednesday's win. Now it's time to get down to the serious business ahead.
