小刺客托馬斯能幫助騎士提升多少?

How Much Will Isaiah Thomas Improve the Cavaliers?

小刺客托馬斯能幫助騎士提升多少？

The Cleveland Cavaliers have tried to take their divorce from Kyrie Irving in stride, and have stayed near the top of the standings without their longtime point guard. The team has had its share of hiccups but will finally get a chance to move on when Isaiah Thomas, the guard who headlined the trade for Irving this off-season, makes his season debut last week in Cleveland.

克利夫蘭騎士嘗試淡化凱里-歐文出走的負面影響，他們在長時間沒有控球后衛的情況下保持着接近榜首的戰績。球隊着實遇到了些許難題，但終將突破重重阻撓。就在上週，休賽期時與歐文交易重磅的主人公以賽亞-托馬斯就將迎來他在騎士隊的首次亮相。

Thomas, who has endured a lengthy rehabilitation from a hip injury that nearly scuttled the blockbuster trade with the Boston Celtics, participated in a full-court scrimmage on Friday against his teammates and will play against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday, Cleveland Coach Tyronn Lue said on Monday. Thomas will not, however, face his former teammates in Boston on Wednesday, as it will be a while before he is allowed to participate in back-to-back games.

小托馬斯的臀部傷勢讓騎士與波士頓凱爾特人的驚天交易幾近擱淺，而他在忍受了一個漫長而又煎熬的康復過程後，終於可以在週五的對抗訓練和週二對陣波特蘭開拓者的比賽中登場，這在週一時得到了騎士隊主帥泰倫-盧的確認。在被允許出戰背靠背比賽之前，小托馬斯不會在週三面對老東家凱爾特人的比賽中登場。

A frequent user of social media, Thomas had been hinting heavily that a return was imminent, and on Monday he seemed enthusiastic for what was ahead of him.

作爲一個社交媒體達人，小托馬斯已經暗示多時他將重返賽場。並且星期一的時候，他對於即將到來的事顯得滿腔熱情。

The excitement for Thomas's return, both from players and fans, is palpable, especially after he finished last season with a career-high average of 28.9 points a game. But it will be an even bigger lift for the Cavaliers as a whole, as they have thus far been forced to use a rotating cast of players at point guard, including diminished veterans like Jose Calderon and Derrick Rose.

對於小托馬斯的迴歸，無論是球員還是球迷都懷有熱切的期待，特別是他曾在上個賽季以場均28.9分創下職業生涯新高。但更重要的是，他的迴歸對於騎士整體來說，將是一個極大的提升。騎士一直以來不得不用輪換角色球員充當得分後衛，包括老將何塞-卡爾德隆和德里克-羅斯。

LeBron James handles the ball a great deal, but play-by-play data compiled by does not have him logging any minutes at guard this season. Instead it has been Dwyane Wade, at 36, playing primarily at point guard for the first time since his rookie season — a significant downgrade from Irving last season.

勒布朗-詹姆斯在球權分配上佔據主導，但是根據的數據顯示他並沒有出任後衛。而是36歲高齡的德維恩-韋德，自他新秀賽季起第一次主要擔任控球后衛，這對比歐文時代的騎士來說無疑是明顯的下滑。

There is no doubt that Thomas, once he gets back to full speed, will be a tremendous upgrade on offense from any of those options, but there is at least some ambiguity as to how much he can help the team because, to put it bluntly, the offense is not the problem in Cleveland.

毋庸置疑，小托馬斯一朝恢復到最佳的速度與狀態，將給騎士的進攻帶來極大的提升和更豐富的選擇，但總有人質疑他真正能爲騎士提升多少，因爲坦白來說，騎士的真正短板並不在進攻上面。

Losers of three consecutive games, the Cavaliers have allowed 108.7 points per 100 possessions this season, tied for the second-worst mark in the league, according to . Their offense, the third-most efficient in the league, has made up for most of that deficiency.

根據的數據，前段時間的三連敗後騎士本賽季每100回合的失分達到108.7分，並列聯盟倒數第二。而他們的進攻效率，是全聯盟第三高，這足以彌補他們防守上的缺憾。

And there was even some noise about defensive improvement during a winning streak in November — but that fell apart in December as Cleveland went 9-5 and had their defense to blame.

在他們十一月取得驕人戰績的同時，對於提升防守的呼聲從未消失——當他們在十二月僅獲得9-5的戰績時，防守的缺陷首當其衝。

Thomas, one of the NBA's most gifted scorers, has historically been a liability on defense. At 5 feet 9 inches, his size puts him at a disadvantage against nearly any opposing player, and at 28 years old it is unlikely that he will change his style any time soon.

作爲聯盟最具天賦的得分手，小托馬斯的防守一直以來遭人詬病。儘管小托馬斯是地表最強175，他的身材還是讓他在面對任何進攻球員的時候都處於劣勢地位，而且28歲的他也不可能改變什麼。

But as he pointed out after practice on Monday, the Cavaliers knew what they were getting when they traded for him.

不過，在週一的訓練後小托馬斯指出，騎士隊在交易得到他之前，對於他的優劣勢早已爛熟於心。

"I'm a scoring guard, so I know how to put the ball in the basket," he told reporters. "They traded for me for a reason, and that was to play the game that I know how to play and that's make plays, try to make the right play each and every time down and score the ball."

“我是一名得分後衛，我知道如何將球送進籃筐，”他告訴記者，“他們交易得到我的目的，就是讓我在我能夠掌控的比賽登場，讓我做出每一個行之有效的嘗試，在進攻時間消耗殆盡之前將球送進籃筐。”

Provided Thomas's offensive contributions continue to outweigh his defensive shortcomings, he will make the team appreciably better. But if the Cavaliers want to get into the conversation of best team in the N.B.A. alongside the Golden State Warriors, Houston Rockets, and, gulp, Boston, they will need to figure out how to slow their opponents down.

小托馬斯在進攻上的貢獻足以彌補他防守上的短板，他可以讓球隊有明顯的提升。但如果克利夫蘭想要躋身聯盟最佳球隊，與金州勇士，休斯頓火箭，以及凱爾特人平起平坐，他們需要知道如何能讓阻遏對手的進攻。

And that answer is unlikely to come from Thomas regardless of how excited they all are for his return.

顯而易見，這個答案不可能來自小托馬斯，無論大家對他的迴歸有多大的期待。

更多精彩內容請關注微信公衆號、新浪微博：籃球英文堂