Not a discussion about whether Kawhi has outshone the likely league MVP, Giannis Antetokounmpo, during the first five games of the Eastern Conference finals, where Kawhi's Toronto Raptors on Tuesday took a 3-2 lead over the Milwaukee Bucks with a 105-99 Game 5 win. The answer to that question is beyond a shadow of a doubt.
在东部决赛的前五场比赛中,卡哇伊的表现是否超过了最有潜力的MVP字母哥还并不是一个值得讨论的话题。但是直到周二,卡哇伊率领的多伦多猛龙队以105-99战胜雄鹿,以3-2领先。那个问题的答案已经毫无疑问了。
The question of who is currently the best basketball player on Earth seemed to center on whether Kevin Durant had surpassed LeBron James, and whether Giannis was on his way to surpassing them both, and where Steph Curry fits into the mix. We didn't even bring up Kawhi's name.
目前谁是世界上最好的篮球运动员的问题似乎集中在杜兰特是否已经超越詹姆斯、字母哥是否正在超越他们两人,以及库里是否应该列入讨论。我们甚至没有提到卡哇伊的名字。
We didn't even give him his due as the top two-way player in the league. This season, that discussion centered around Giannis or Paul George.
我们甚至没有给他作为“联盟中最好的双向(攻防两端)球员”的应得的认可。这个赛季,讨论的焦点则集中在字母哥或保罗乔治。
"He seemed to cruise to 30 points a lot of nights (during the regular season), and 30 is a lot in this league," Nick Nurse, the Raptors' first-year head coach, said before Game 5. "And that's why I kept saying, geez, it just feels like there's another gear here with this guy that we're going to see."
猛龙队执教第一年的主教练尼克·纳斯在第五场比赛前说到:“在常规赛的很多晚上,他似乎都能轻松拿下30分,在这个联盟30分是很多的。”“这就是为什么我一直在说,天哪,感觉就像这个家伙身上还有另一个齿轮,我们会看到的。”
"It's really different when you have a guy, when you're with him every day and you're witnessing it all," Nurse said. "
“当你在这样一个家伙身边,并且每天都和他在一起并见证着这一切,这真的很不一样,”纳斯说。”
The Raptors at their best are not the Kawhi Leonard Show. Kawhi seemed to recognize that earlier in the series, and he has since eschewed much of the isolation, Kawhi-do-it-all basketball that he started the series with. When Kawhi shares the ball — his nine assists in Game 5 were a career high — the Raptors take it to another level.
猛龙队最好的状态并不是卡哇伊的独秀时刻。卡哇伊似乎在这个系列的早些时候就意识到了这一点,从那以后,他就避免了很多拉开来单打,避免了这个系列开始时那种“卡哇伊无所不能”的篮球。在第五场比赛中的9次助攻是他职业生涯的新高,当卡哇伊分享这个球时,猛龙队就提升到了另一个水平。
We don't know whether this version of the Raptors can push the Golden State Warriors in the Finals. Heck, we don't even know whether this version of the Raptors will make the Finals.sure, the Bucks haven't been great for a couple games.
我们不知道这个版本的猛龙能否在总决赛中给金州勇士带来困扰。见鬼,我们甚至不知道这个版本的猛龙队是否能进入总决赛。当然,雄鹿队有几场比赛表现不太好。
Sure, the Bucks haven't been great for a couple games, but an angry Giannis virtually guaranteed in the locker room after Game 5 that this series will come back to Milwaukee for a Game 7.
当然,雄鹿队有几场比赛表现不太好,但是愤怒的字母哥在第五场比赛后回到更衣室里就向球迷们担保了,这个系列赛将会回到密尔沃基打第七场比赛。
But I feel pretty confident in making a couple statements of certainty: That Kawhi Leonard has been the MVP of these playoffs. And that when he's going all-out in the playoffs, Kawhi Leonard is the best two-way player in the NBA.
但是我很有信心做出一些确定的声明:伦纳德已经成为了季后赛的MVP。当他在季后赛全力以赴的时候,他就是是NBA最好的双向(攻防两端)球员。
And if he's both of those things, well, what should stop you from calling him the best basketball player on Earth in this very moment?
如果他同时具备这两种能力,那么,在这个时刻,有啥能阻止他成为为世界上最好的篮球运动员呢?
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