火箭队晋级失败，令人心碎

HOUSTON -- So much went right for the Houston Rockets this season.Their superstar pair of playmakers fit together phenomenally as James Harden and Chris Paul shared the reins of one of the most potent offenses in NBA history. Paul had no problems sliding into a co-star role after deciding to leave the LA Clippers to come to Houston. Harden had the best year of his career and will almost certainly be awarded with his first MVP trophy.

这个赛季休斯顿火箭做得很好。他们的超级明星组合配合的非常好，詹姆斯·哈登和克里斯·保罗共同组成了NBA历史上最有进攻力的组合之一。保罗在决定离开洛杉矶快船队来到休斯敦后，顺利地成为了主角。这也是哈登在他职业生涯中最棒的一年，也几乎会获得他的第一个MVP奖杯。

Bobby Marks breaks down what’s next for Houston, including new deals for Chris Paul and Clint Capela.

鲍比·马克斯详细分析了休斯敦的未来，包括克里斯·保罗和克林特·卡佩拉的新合同。

Center Clint Capela, who turned 24 this month, continued to blossom into the third star the Rockets needed to be a real title threat. He has become one of the NBA’s best finishers, leading the league in field goal percentage (.652). He’s an elite rebounder (10.8 per game). And his ability to both protect the rim (1.9 blocks per game) and defend on the perimeter is a crucial element to the Rockets’ drastically improved defense.

中锋克林特·卡佩拉这个月已经24岁了，他将成长为火箭队的第三位明星-帮助火箭队对冠军产生真正的威胁。他已经成为NBA最好的终结者之一，在球场进球率上领先联盟百分之(.652)。他还是个优秀的篮板王(场均10.8)，既有保护篮筐(每场1.9个盖帽)能力，又能在外围防守，这是帮助火箭队大大提高防守水平的关键因素。

Forward PJ Tucker, whose four-year, $32 million deal signed last summer looks like a bargain, has in some ways emerged as the Rockets’ soul. He’s the snarling face of the Rockets’ switch-everything defensive scheme that helped Houston soar from 18th a year ago to sixth this season in the league’s defensive efficiency rankings. The Rockets became a good enough defensive team to be a threat to the Golden State Warriors as soon as they signed Tucker.

前锋PJ塔克，他在去年夏天签下四年价值3200万美元看起来很划算的合同，在某种程度上已经成为了火箭的灵魂。他面对的是火箭队的全面防守，这使得火箭队从一年前的第18名上升到本赛季的第六名，在联盟的防守效率排名中排名第六。火箭队成为了一支优秀的防守队伍，一旦他们签下塔克，就会对勇士队构成威胁。

The Rockets proved themselves right. They were good enough to win a championship.

火箭证队明自己是有能力的。他们有足够的能力赢得冠军。

However, with the Rockets a win away from knocking out the Warriors, they received a cruel twist of fate when Paul suffered a Grade 2 strain of his right hamstring. You will never be able to convince anyone in the Houston locker room that they wouldn’t have headed to the NBA Finals with a healthy Paul.

然而，当火箭队在击败勇士队的比赛中取得胜利，而保罗的右腿筋拉伤时，他们遭遇了残酷的命运转折。你永远无法说服休斯顿更衣室里的任何人，他们不没有机会和一个健康的保罗一起去参加NBA总决赛。

"If we just had one more playmaker, we’d be playing on Thursday [in the Finals]," Houston guard Eric Gordon said. "It’s that simple."

“如果我们再多一个组织者，我们将必定在周四(总决赛)上场，”休斯顿后卫埃里克·戈登说。“就这么简单”。

It’s a "woulda, coulda, shoulda" that will haunt Houston perhaps forever, or at least until the Rockets celebrate the franchise’s first title since the Clutch City days more than two decades ago.

这仅仅是“可能，应该，或许”，这可能会永远困扰火箭队，或者至少直到火箭庆祝20多年以来的第一个联赛冠军。

But the Rockets have no question that they’ve found a championship-caliber formula with two future Hall of Fame playmakers, a high-rising big man who complements them perfectly and role players who fit like perfect puzzle pieces.

但是火箭队毫无疑问，他们已经找到了一个获得冠军杯的公式，两个未来的名人堂球员，一个能完美补充他们的高大个子，以及那些适合拼图的角色球员。

"We’ll get back on the horse and we’ll get these guys here pretty soon," Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni said.

“我们会马上回来，会很快找到这些人，”火箭队教练迈克·德安东尼说。

Aside from the unlikely scenario of winning the LeBron James summer sweepstakes -- and that would require some amazing salary-cap gymnastics by Houston general manager Daryl Morey -- there’s no reason the Rockets shouldn’t run it back with the same core next season.

在夏季是否有可能赢得勒布朗詹姆斯-休斯顿总经理达里尔莫雷将需要一些惊人的薪水，火箭队没有理由使用相同的核心球员在下赛季。

However, the price for keeping this team together will soar this summer.Three starters -- Paul, Capela and glue guy Trevor Ariza -- will be free agents. So will a couple of key reserves, wing Gerald Green and defensive stopper Luc Mbah a Moute.

然而，今年夏天，让这支球队团结起来的代价将会大增。三名首发球员——保罗、卡佩拉和阿里扎将成为自由球员。还有一些重要的补位，如杰拉德·格林和防守后卫吕克·Mbah。

Ariza won’t be nearly as expensive, especially in a market that isn’t expected to be kind to older role players. The same applies to Mbah a Moute and Green. They could all return to the Rockets on deals that are relatively team-friendly.

阿里扎的身价不会那么昂贵，尤其是在对老角色球员没有期望的市场上。同样的情况也适用于Mbah a Moute和格林。他们都可以继续待在火箭，相对球员和球队都是很好的.

But new Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta is likely to find himself looking at a large luxury tax bill, potentially in excess of $70 million. Fertitta declared after buying the team that he’d be willing to pay what it takes to keep a contender together. The Rockets have eliminated any doubt that they fit into that category.

但是新的火箭队老板蒂尔曼·费蒂塔可能会发现自己正在面临一笔高昂的税，可能会超过7000万美元。费蒂塔在买下球队后宣布，他愿意付出一切代价来保持一名竞争者的团结。火箭队已经排除了他们是否属于火箭队的任何疑问。

"I feel like this team is going to hold that championship up soon," Green said. "Unfortunately, it wasn’t this year, but we’re on the right path."Houston’s front office will deal with the price of continuing to contend for NBA titles this summer. Right now, the Rockets are experiencing the agonizing pain of coming so close.

格林说：“我觉得这支球队很快就会赢得冠军。”“不幸的是，今年不是，但我们走的这条道路是正确的。”休斯敦的前场办公室将处理今年夏天继续争夺NBA冠军的事宜。现在，火箭队正经历着痛苦。