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"I think we have to go into the playoffs, or why are we playing?" asked the veteran center.
“我们得打进季后赛啊，不然我们还为啥打球？”这位老将中锋说道。
The answer to "why are we playing?" seemed obvious.
“不然我们还为啥打球？”对于这个问题，似乎答案很明显。
After winning just 17 games last year, the Lakers' primary goal should've been developing its squad of young, promising players like Brandon Ingram, D'Angelo Russell and Julius Randle. The team had no real shot to compete in the Western Conference.
湖人队在经历了一个17胜的赛季之后，首要目标就是培养队里年轻而有潜力的球员，比如布兰登-英格拉姆、丹吉洛-拉塞尔和朱利叶斯-兰德尔。而对于在西部和其他球队竞争，球队并没有什么认真的目标。
During its preseason forecast, ESPN.com predicted the Lakers would win just 25 games and finish dead last in the West.
ESPN在赛季前的预测中认为，湖人本赛季只能赢25场，最终将毫无疑问地排名西部的最后一名。
Fast-forward to Wednesday night in Chicago: The Lakers, playing on the second night of a back-to-back, without their starting guard tandem of Nick Young and Russell, overcame a 14-point deficit to beat the Bulls, 96-90.
让我们把时间快进到周三晚湖人客场与公牛的比赛：在背靠背第二场，且球队缺少首发后场双人组尼克-杨和拉塞尔的处境下，他们逆转了14分的劣势，最终以96-90战胜了公牛队。
With the win, the Lakers improved to 10-10—good for ninth place in the conference through almost a quarter of the season.
取得这场胜利后，湖人的战绩来到10胜10负——在赛季进行了差不多四分之一之后，湖人的战绩能够排在西部第九。
"The fact that we are (at .500) speaks a lot to the effort that our guys are playing with (and) the trust they have with each other," coach Luke Walton said. "If we can keep playing hard and competing, I am confident we will get the more complicated stuff down as well and then we can make real growth happen."
“我们能达到50%的胜率，表明了队员们的努力，和他们相互之间的信任，”教练卢克-沃顿说道。“如果我们能继续这样努力下去，保持竞争力，我相信我们将能够克服更复杂的困境，取得真正的进步。”
Walton contends the Lakers are winning because of intensity more so than an understanding of what the coaches want on offense and defense.
沃顿认为，湖人之所以能赢下比赛，一方面是球队能够理解教练组在攻防两端的要求，更多的是大家的求胜欲更强了。
"The effort and the competitiveness have been off the charts almost every night for our guys, but we need to get the execution up to par with that," Walton said.
“大家的努力和拼劲几乎在每场比赛都体现出来了，不过我们还需要提升执行力来与之匹配。”沃顿说道。
When it comes to Los Angeles' playoff hopes, the team won't catch the elite in the West like the Golden State Warriors (16-2), San Antonio Spurs (15-4) and Los Angeles Clippers (14-5).
至于湖人打进季后赛的希望：湖人不可能赶上西部的精英球队，比如勇士（16胜2负）、马刺（15胜4负）和快船（14胜5负）。
The Houston Rockets(11-7) are a top offensive group, the Oklahoma City Thunder (12-8) have All-Star Russell Westbrook averaging a triple-double and the Utah Jazz (11-8) are one of the NBA's best defensive squads.
火箭（11胜7负）进攻顶级，雷霆（12胜8负）拥有场均三双的全明星后卫拉塞尔-威斯布鲁克，而爵士（11胜8负）是联盟中防守最好的球队之一。
But the Memphis Grizzlies (11-8) are vulnerable. They're now without guard Mike Conley (back injury) for an intense six weeks during which they'll face some of the NBA's best, including the Cleveland Cavaliers, Warriors and Clippers multiple times.
但灰熊（11胜8负）则有点脆弱。他们的后卫迈克-康利（背部伤病）将缺席关键的六周，在这期间灰熊需要多次对阵一些联盟最强的球队，包括骑士、勇士和快船。
The eighth-place Portland Trail Blazers (10-10) are struggling to find the same chemistry that made them a playoff darling last season.
第八名的开拓者（10胜10负）还在苦苦寻求着在上赛季季后赛中，队里曾经拥有的甜蜜化学反应。
The Lakers will draw the Grizzlies twice without Conley and the Blazers four times before the season comes to a close. Those six games could help propel the Lakers to the playoffs, considering how close these teams are in terms of records, provided L.A. survives injuries and a heavy schedule ahead.
湖人接下来要打两次没有康利的灰熊，此外在赛季结束前还有四次和开拓者交手的机会。考虑到三支队伍在战绩上如此接近，加之湖人如今免于伤病，又在之前的艰难赛程中撑了过来，湖人赢下上述这六场关键比赛将极为有利于打进季后赛的目标。
Of the Lakers' next 13 contests, 10 are on the road. Seven of the 13 are against teams currently slotted in the top eight of their respective conferences. To make matters more difficult, Russell is expected to miss at least the next three games while recovering from a sore left knee.
在湖人接下来的13场比赛中，有10场是客场，7场面对分区前八的队伍。更艰难的是，拉塞尔由于左膝疼痛，据报道将缺阵至少三场比赛。
And Young will be sidelined for two to four weeks with a right calf strain—roughly eight to 15 games.
而杨由于小腿拉伤要缺阵2到4周，大概8到15场比赛。
But if the Lakers can get five of the 13, they'll be three games below .500 (15-18) heading into their Christmas Day matchup at Staples Center against the Clippers. Then it will be even more apparent that we need to take this team's playoff hopes seriously.
但只要湖人能赢下接下来13场中的5场，他们离50%胜率就还有3场的差距（15胜18负），并在此时迎来圣诞大战，在斯台普斯中心打快船。到时，到圣诞节后你就更明白了，湖人是真的有望打进季后赛的。
Including the holiday, the Lakers will next have 49 games left to build playoff momentum (with 21 on the road).
包括圣诞大战，湖人接下来还有49场比赛来冲击季后赛，其中21场是客场。
"I think effort will carry you a long way," Larry Nance Jr. said. "The more and more we play together, the more games and months go by—hopefully years go by—and we're all together, that's when you start to see the efficiency that a Golden State has. That's what we're looking forward to."
“我们付出的努力会让我们走得更远，”小拉里-南斯说道。“随着我们一起打的比赛越来越多，日复一日、月复一月，希望也会是年复一年，我们都在一起打球，你就能看到我们打出像勇士队那样的效果。这是我们所期盼的。”
Meanwhile, the Lakers will need to hold off other challengers behind them in the standings, like the Denver Nuggets (7-11), Sacramento Kings (7-11) and New Orleans Pelicans (7-12).
同时，湖人也需要甩开在他们身后的其他竞争者，比如掘金（7胜11负）、国王（7胜11负）和鹈鹕（7胜12负）。
The Pelicans have recently surged with the return of Jrue Holiday and should get Tyreke Evans back soon from a knee injury. The Minnesota Timberwolves (5-13) also seem like they should be a lot better than their record.
鹈鹕最近随着朱-霍勒迪的复出而状态回升，而之后泰瑞克-埃文斯也将从膝伤中回归。森林狼（5胜13负）的表现似乎也比其战绩所显示的要好得多。
Despite the Bleacher Report league-wide predicton that the Lakers would finish with the worst record in the NBA, the team's actual range may be seventh through 12th in the West.
虽然Bleacher Report的联盟大预测认为湖人将联盟垫底，不过这支队伍最终可能将排在西部的7-12名。
Mozgov seemed overly optimistic on media day, yet the veteran Russian center clearly saw a competitive fire in this Lakers squad that many overlooked.
莫兹戈夫在媒体日上看起来或许过于乐观了，但这位俄罗斯老将中锋显然是发现了队中燃起的进步希望，而这是许多人都未曾注意的。
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