美国国家公共电台 NPR--NBA Finals: The Miami Heat will take on the Denver Nuggets

NBA Finals: The Miami Heat will take on the Denver Nuggets

Transcript¹

NPR's A Martinez talks to Jesse Washington, senior writer for ESPN, about the NBA Finals which begin Thursday. The Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics to join the Denver Nuggets in the finals.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

The Miami Heat will advance to the NBA finals after beating the Boston Celtics in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals last night. The Celtics were hoping to become the first team in NBA history to come back from being three games down in a best of seven, but Miami winds up playing the Denver Nuggets in the finals. That begins Thursday in Denver. Jesse Washington watched the action unfold. He's a senior writer for ESPN's Andscape. Jesse, Miami stopped the slide last night to finally eliminate the Celtics. How did they wind up doing it?

JESSE WASHINGTON: Man, well, the first way that they did it is they got lucky. And on the first play of the game, the Celtics' Jayson Tatum turned his ankle pretty badly and was ineffective for the rest of the game. And, look, a lot of people are saying, oh, you got to play through it. That's what you're supposed to do as a superstar, man. I've played in big games with a rolled ankle, and you're just not yourself. And clearly Jayson Tatum could not do what they needed him to do, what he's capable of doing. So that was the first way that Miami did it. But the second way, man - they got a team. They got a squad², and their role-players stepped up huge. Caleb Martin - 26 points - should have been the MVP, not Jimmy Butler. Duncan Robinson, former Division III player - 10 points. Gabe Vincent, Max Strus - they got guys, I don't even know their first names - some guy named Highsmith - coming in and giving you big minutes. So Miami has really...

MART?NEZ: Yeah.

WASHINGTON: ...Shown this amazing ability to have these other guys step up and contribute.

MART?NEZ: All right. So it's going to be the Heat and the Nuggets in Denver on Thursday, Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Denver swept the Lakers in the Western Conference finals. It'll be 10 days in between games for the Nuggets. Are they going to be rested or rusty³?

WASHINGTON: Rested, ready - they're ready to win that chip, man. Denver's looking great. They got the best player in the world right now - Jokic, Nikola Jokic They got Jamal Murray playing like we all knew he could play before he got injured. There are role-players that are terrific⁴. So I don't think that there's any problem with this layoff⁵, and I think that the Heat have a huge challenge here to even win two games off the Nuggets, let alone win the championship.

MART?NEZ: Really because I was thinking about the Heat - are they going to be gassed or geared⁶ up, considering they just played this intense seven-game series?

WASHINGTON: Well, they're going to be geared up. The Heat don't get gassed. And you know, that's part of Heat culture, this famous stuff. And I got to mention here, I think the difference in this Celtics series and the reason why they won is Erik Spoelstra. The coach of the Heat is amazing. Like, how does he take these guys who you've never heard of, who you wouldn't recognize if you saw them in the supermarket and turn them into one of the two best teams in the NBA? He does it year after year. So they're going to be ready. Coach Spo is going to have them ready. The question is, do they have the firepower to compete with Denver?

MART?NEZ: Now, I'm sure most NBA fans, Jesse, probably wanted to see the Lakers play the Celtics, but why is a Heat-Nuggets NBA Finals worth watching?

WASHINGTON: That's a great question. Two reasons - No. 1, Jokic - I mean this guy is great, and you got to appreciate his game. There's been a lot of slander⁷ about he's awkward⁸, he's this, he's that, he's that.

MART?NEZ: The Nuggets center.

WASHINGTON: And the guy can just hoop⁹. The guy can just hoop, the Nuggets center. And the second reason is how can you not enjoy watching a bunch of overachievers who aren't really supposed to be there in the Miami Heat, Jimmy Butler and his guys? You got to enjoy watching them pour their hearts and souls into this series, into these playoffs. It should be fun to watch.

MART?NEZ: Jesse Washington, senior writer for ESPN's Andscape. Jesse, thanks.

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1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

3 rusty   

adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的

参考例句：

• The lock on the door is rusty and won't open.门上的锁锈住了。
• I haven't practiced my French for months and it's getting rusty.几个月不用，我的法语又荒疏了。

4 terrific   

adj.可怕的，极好的，非常的

参考例句：

• The game was terrific.那场比赛棒极了。
• Darren drove at a terrific speed.达伦以惊人的速度驾车。

5 layoff   

n.临时解雇，操作停止，活动停止期间，失业期

参考例句：

• Finally, prepare an explanation about what led to your layoff.最后，要准备好一套说辞来解释你被解雇的原因。
• Workers were re-employed after the layoff.在暂时解雇不久后工人们又被再度雇用了。

6 geared   

adj.连接的

参考例句：

• The programme is geared to preparing students for the world of work. 本计划旨在为学生开始就业作准备。
• The party is all geared up for the forthcoming election campaign. 该党为即将来临的竞选活动做好了准备。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 slander   

n./v.诽谤，污蔑

参考例句：

• The article is a slander on ordinary working people.那篇文章是对普通劳动大众的诋毁。
• He threatened to go public with the slander.他威胁要把丑闻宣扬出去。

8 awkward   

adj.笨拙的，尴尬的，使用不便的，难处理的

参考例句：

• John is so shy and awkward that everyone notices him.约翰如此害羞狼狈，以至于大家都注意到了他。
• I was the only man among the guests and felt rather awkward.作为客人中的唯一男性，我有些窘迫。

9 hoop   

n.（篮球）篮圈，篮

参考例句：

• The child was rolling a hoop.那个孩子在滚铁环。
• The wooden tub is fitted with the iron hoop.木盆都用铁箍箍紧。