NBA权力榜:总冠军争夺者

 　　The NBA season is only weeks away, and though there were a lot of changes this summer, most of the teams at the top remain the same. Every team is hopeful in preseason, but only a handful have realistic odds¹ of a championship and even those are slight versus² the Golden State Warriors³.

　　有几周新赛季就将拉开大幕。尽管这个休赛期并不平静，但顶级强队还是那几家。虽然在季前赛很多球队都展现了一定的竞争力，但真正有实力争夺总冠军的屈指可数。而在他们之中，金州勇士又是鹤立鸡群的那支球队。

　　Our first power rankings of the year begin with a four-part look at the different tiers of NBA teams—starting with the title contenders:

　　我们今年的第一份权力榜将把30支球队分成四档，首先是第一档，即总冠军争夺者：

　　1.Golden State Warriors

　　金州勇士

　　For most of last season, the Golden State Warriors seemed inevitable⁴. Seventy-three regular season wins weren’t impossible; they were a birthright. An NBA championship seemed a mere⁵ formality.

　　在上赛季大部分时间里，金州勇士都处于无敌状态。他们闲庭信步般豪取73胜，冠军似乎已是囊中之物，季后赛不过是走走过场。

　　NBA总冠军

　　So, even after a brilliant offseason partnered the reigning⁶ two-time MVP (Stephen Curry) with the previous one (Kevin Durant)—somehow upgrading the Warriors already considerable top end talent.

　　勇士的休赛期运作令人难忘，他们成功挖来前MVP得主凯文-杜兰特，让他和近两年MVP得主斯蒂芬-库里组成搭档，看起来原本就实力超群的勇士似乎已经不是地球人可以阻挡的了。

　　the preseason is still too early to move this group atop the all-time hierarchy⁷ of NBA teams.

　　尽管从季前赛能得到的信息很有限，但勇士的夺冠可能性无疑是最大的。

　　But these Warriors certainly present more possibilities than any other we’ve ever seen. By comparison, the offseason that joined LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade⁸ was similarly potent⁹, but—the uniqueness of James aside—in a more traditional way.

　　当年热火凑齐三巨头的时候也是尽显冠军相，但勇士的这次操作显然更令人兴奋（当然詹姆斯是独一无二的）。

　　A dynamic point guard who combines unparalleled accuracy with infinite range, perhaps the best shooting wing pairing in NBA history and a power forward who can defend all five positions, space the floor and work as the primary playmaker.

　　一个投篮神准、射程近乎无限的控卫；一个可能是史上最强的侧翼投手；一个能防守五个位置、可以拉开空间、并且担当进攻发起者的大前锋。

　　The skill sets from each position are so far off the map that even Don Nelson in his prime tripping on acid couldn’t have dreamed this group up.

　　当初没有人想到这套阵容会有这么大的威力，即便是“疯狂科学家”老尼尔森在他的实验室里也不一定能调制出这样的组合。

1 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

2 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

3 warriors   

武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I like reading the stories ofancient warriors. 我喜欢读有关古代武士的故事。
• The warriors speared the man to death. 武士们把那个男子戳死了。

4 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

5 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

6 reigning   

adj.统治的，起支配作用的

参考例句：

• The sky was dark, stars were twinkling high above, night was reigning, and everything was sunk in silken silence. 天很黑，星很繁，夜阑人静。
• Led by Huang Chao, they brought down the reigning house after 300 years' rule. 在黄巢的带领下，他们推翻了统治了三百年的王朝。

7 hierarchy   

n.等级制度；统治集团，领导层

参考例句：

• There is a rigid hierarchy of power in that country.那个国家有一套严密的权力等级制度。
• She's high up in the management hierarchy.她在管理阶层中地位很高。

8 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

9 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。