日薄西山的勇士隊,究竟路在何方?

This time, the insult came before the injury.

這一次，羞辱先於傷病。

For the first two and a half quarters of Wednesday night's game between Golden State and Phoenix, the Suns—one of the worst teams in the league last season—were trouncing the Warriors in the brand-new Chase Center.

週三晚上，在雙方對陣的前兩節半時間內，上賽季的“吊車尾”——菲尼克斯太陽隊在全新的大通銀行中心球館裏擊潰了金州勇士隊。

After one quarter, the Suns led by a score of 43-14, which seemed like a typo, and by halftime, they'd dropped 72 points on the 2018-19 Western Conference champs.

第一節過後，太陽隊以43比14領先，這看起來就像數據統計出現錯誤似的。半場結束，他們已經這位2018-19賽季的西部冠軍頭上拿下了72分。

Then, with just over eight minutes left in the third and the Warriors down 29, Steph Curry drove toward the basket and collided with Aron Baynes, a player 7 inches taller and 75 pounds heavier than him.

距離第三節結束還剩8分多鐘時，勇士落後29分。庫裏持球衝擊籃筐，與比他高7英寸，重75磅的阿倫·貝恩斯相撞。

They both collapsed to the floor, and Curry's arms folded awkwardly beneath Baynes's body.

他倆紛紛倒地，庫裏的手臂被壓在貝恩斯身下，並以一種不正常的方式摺疊着。

But at this point, the timeline seems pretty meaningless.

在這種情況下，復出時間表似乎毫無意義。

Even if he misses only six to eight weeks (the projected time for a broken second metacarpal), by the time he is pain-free and ready to step back on the court, the Warriors, who are 1-3 with Curry in the lineup, will likely be one of the worst teams in the West.

即使庫裏只需要缺席6至8周（第二掌骨骨折預期缺席時間），等到他傷愈重返賽場時，這支擁有庫裏尚且只取得一勝三負戰績的勇士隊，可能已經成爲西部最差的球隊之一了。

Over the first four games of this season, it's felt as if Golden State has begun paying off the misery debt the team racked up while basking in its superteam-fueled glory.

本賽季開始的四場比賽中，勇士隊似乎開始償還昔日作爲超級艦隊在享受無盡榮光的同時，所欠下的承受苦痛的債。

The mass exodus this offseason, led by Kevin Durant's departure to the Nets, left the Warriors void of the depth and continuity that made them one of the best teams ever.

休賽期，杜蘭特選擇加盟籃網，導致了隊內大批球員的流失，也讓勇士隊缺失了陣容深度與進攻的連續性，而這些正是他們那時稱得上是史上最好的球隊之一的原因所在。

They were also coming into the 2019-20 season without Klay Thompson, who tore his ACL in last season's playoffs.

（除此之外，）進入2019-20賽季的勇士隊，缺少了在上賽季季後賽裏遭遇前交叉韌帶斷裂傷病的克萊·湯普森。

They didn't decide to regress or tank—they swapped out veterans for young players and hoped Steve Kerr could make it work.

他們並沒有打算放棄或者擺爛，他們用老將換來了年輕球員，希望史蒂夫·科爾教練能盤活全隊。

But even with D'Angelo Russell in the fold and Curry's individual greatness, they haven't been able to overcome their slew of flaws, especially on the defensive end, where they rank dead last in the league.

可他們仍然無法彌補自身的大量缺陷，甚至在擁有丹吉洛·拉塞爾在列而且庫裏個人表現依舊出衆的情況下也是如此，尤其是在防守端，幾乎是聯盟墊底。

In their three losses, the Warriors have been outscored by nearly 20 points per game and they have yet to allow less than 120 points in any of their four contests.

在輸掉的三場比賽中，他們幾乎每場都要輸給對手將近20分，四場比賽下來，他們每場比賽的失分都超過120。

This was supposed to be Curry's throwback supernova season.

這本該是庫裏迴歸超級明星的賽季。

Without the pressure of being title favorites or the weight that came with Durant's impending free agency, an unleashed Curry was expected to once again set the league ablaze and remind us of the old days when he dropped 3s from all over the court and scored with acrobatic layups.

沒有了作爲奪冠熱門所承受的壓力，沒有了需要面臨杜蘭特跳出合同，成爲自由球員的心理負擔，無所拘束的庫裏被期待着，再次點燃整個聯盟，讓我們重溫那段全場無死角的三分投射和雜耍般上籃得分的時光。

But what was supposed to be a season of warm nostalgia in a new arena began turning sour before the season even started.

但在賽季開始前，這段本應在全新的場館內持續一整個賽季的溫暖回憶，就已經開始變味了。

The Warriors looked horrible in the preseason, hinting at the fact that the roster turnover they had undergone was far too drastic to stay afloat.

勇士隊在季前賽就顯得異常狼狽，這暗示着，他們的陣容變化太過急劇，以至於他們已處於自身難保的境地。

Still, it was easy for Warriors fans to hang their hopes on Curry, if anyone could carry them to at least a fringe playoff spot in the West, it would be him.

同往常一樣，勇士球迷還是會習慣性的將希望寄託於庫裏身上，如果有人能帶領勇士至少摸到季後賽的地板，那麼一定是庫裏。

In the span of four games, three losses, and a catastrophic injury, this has already turned into a season from hell—and it's not yet November.

四場比賽，三場失利，以及一場災難性的傷病。這個賽季已經變得無比黑暗，但甚至11月都還沒有來臨。

更多精彩內容請關注微信公衆號、新浪微博：籃球英文堂