常規賽MVP 還有懸念嗎?

Most Valuable player

最有價值球員排名：

1. James Harden

1. 詹姆斯-哈登

2. LeBron James

2. 勒布朗-詹姆斯

3. Anthony Davis

3. 安東尼-戴維斯

4. Giannis Antetokounmpo

4. 揚尼斯-阿德託昆博

James and Harden are neck-and-neck in almost every metric.

詹姆斯和哈登幾乎在每項數據上並駕齊驅。

If given a choice between game-planning for Harden or James in a seven-game series, 30 out of 30 teams would pick Harden within five seconds of being posed the question.

如果要在七勝制系列賽中在詹姆斯和哈登之間做出選擇，30支隊伍中無一例外地都在五秒內選擇了哈登。

We've seen Chill Mode LeBron. This was different. LeBron at times stood still instead of rotating on defense. He occasionally decided not to close out on shooters.

我們見過不在狀態的勒布朗。這有所不同。勒布朗有時會站着不動而不是輪換防守。他偶爾會決定不撲向射手。

During Cleveland's nadir, a couple of shooters caught the ball behind the arc, looked at LeBron as if expecting him to rush out, realized he had no plans to move, shrugged, and fired. Almost every other Cav played with the same sloth. It was, frankly, astonishing.

在克利夫蘭的低谷期，好幾個射手在三分線外接到球，看着勒布朗就彷彿在期盼他能夠衝出來，當意識到他沒有移動的意圖時，（射手們）聳聳肩，把球投了出去。幾乎每一位克利夫蘭人都一樣的慵懶。平心而論，這真的很令人吃驚。

That is a bridge too far, even if the new Cavs are better than their broken, discarded predecessors.

對於騎士來說這無疑是千里濠梁，即便這支嶄新的騎士隊比之前支離破碎的隊伍更好。

Harden may not be a galvanizer, either. He let his relationship with Dwight Howard a couple of years ago disintegrate amid silence and unmade passes. He wilted facing elimination last season. That is part of the reason Houston added some fire in Paul. There will be a crisis moment in the playoffs when the Rockets need Harden to galvanize them.

哈登也許也不能很好地激勵他人。幾年前，他讓自己與德懷特-霍華德的關係在沉默中破裂，在場上也幾乎不傳球。面對上個賽季的挫敗，他萎靡不振。這也是休斯頓引進保羅來增強火力點的一部分原因。在季後賽的緊要關頭，火箭隊需要哈登來催化這一切。

But they haven't needed much of it in blitzing through this regular season, and that is the period voters consider. Houston has been the league's best team wire-to-wire, and Harden its best player.

但是他們在常規賽的閃電戰中，並不需要這麼做，這也是他們的擁護者所考慮的。火箭隊本賽季自始至終都是聯盟的頂尖強隊，而哈登一直是這支球隊中最好的球員。

He just wrapped the greatest season of isolation basketball in league history, acting as battering ram in Houston's blunt force attack: pick-and-roll, switch, back it out, fatality.

作爲火箭隊強有力的進攻利器：擋拆，轉換進攻，切入繞回，然後致命一擊，哈登用這些高超的單打手段結束了這個火箭隊歷史上最偉大的賽季。

Harden's step-back 3-pointer and shoulder-checking drives have long obscured his brilliance as a passer. Harden's style can bore, but there are few NBA moments more exciting than those eye-of-the-storm seconds in which Harden digests a switch and slides two steps back with a live dribble. His eyes dart side-to-side, the entire game in his hands.

哈登的後撤步3分和壓肩突破在很長的一段時間內掩蓋了他傳球的才華。哈登的風格令人（防守人員）厭煩，但是沒有什麼時刻比那些驚心動魄的瞬間更令人興奮，哈登會用他靈活的運球技巧銜接後撤步撕裂防守轉換。他用雙眼省視着全場，似乎整場比賽都掌握在他的手中。

Harden is an offense unto himself. He is never going to be a plus defender. Even a disengaged LeBron, outside those outlier winter weeks of discontent, is a more impactful defender simply through the power of reputation and size. People fear the sudden appearance of dialed-in LeBron. They avoid him.

對於哈登來說，他就是一個進攻者。他從未準備去成爲一個防守人員。除了那些讓人不滿的極寒期，即便是閒散的勒布朗，他的影響力和強壯的體型使得他成爲一個更具威懾力的防守者。人們害怕勒布朗的突然出現。他們要躲避他。

Bottom line: This is Harden's year. Given equal statistical profiles, it is hard to reward an alpha player (LeBron) whose team -- the fourth seed entering Wednesday in the junior varsity conference -- is beset by constant, season-threatening melodrama.

這是屬於哈登的一年，相同的數據顯示，（勒布朗）所在球隊以排名第四的成績進入季後賽的球員很難得到嘉獎，他的球隊正面臨着持續不斷的賽季性的危險劇情。

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