Star-Filled Teams Face Each Other in NBA Finals

The NBA Finals begin Thursday night in Oakland, a city in northern California.
NBA总决赛于周四（美国时间）晚上在加州北部城市奥克兰开始进行。
Last year, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Golden State Warriors to win the NBA championship. It was the first major title for a Cleveland sports team since the 1960s.
去年，克利夫兰骑士队击败了金州勇士队夺得NBA总冠军。这是克利夫兰所有运动队自上世纪60年代以来夺得的第一项重要冠军。

The year before, Golden State, based in Oakland, defeated Cleveland for its first championship since 1975.
前一年，奥克兰市的金州勇士队击败了骑士队夺得了该队1975年以来首个冠军。

This year, the two teams will meet again for a chance to find out which one is really the best.
今年两队将再次相遇一教高下。

Cleveland is led by one of the NBA's all-time great players, LeBron James. He is playing in the Finals for the seventh-straight season. He is the first player to do that since the 1960s.
克利夫兰骑士队由NBA历史上最伟大球员之一的勒布朗·詹姆斯（LeBron James）率领，这是他连续七个赛季进入总决赛。自上世纪60年代以来，他是第一个做到这点的球员。

The Golden State Warriors have Steph Curry, the league's Most Valuable Player last year, and Kevin Durant, one of the NBA's best players.
金州勇士队拥有去年联盟最有价值球员（MPV）斯蒂芬·库里（Steph Curry），以及NBA最佳球员之一的凯文·杜兰特（Kevin Durant）。

The series is "best of seven," which means the first team to win four games will be champion.
该系列赛是七战四胜制(Best of Seven)，这意味着先赢足四场的球队将会获得冠军。

The teams have a number of other All-Star players, they are among the best in the NBA. Cleveland has Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, while Golden State has Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.
这两支队有很多全明星球员，他们位居NBA最佳球员行列。骑士队有凯里·欧文（Kyrie Irving）和凯文·乐福（Kevin Love），而金州勇士队有德雷蒙德·格林（Draymond Green）和克雷·汤普森（Klay Thompson）。

So in this match-up of star players, which team will win?
所以在这些明星球员的精彩对位中，哪只球队能笑到最后？

James thinks his Cavaliers will win. "I feel good about our chances, very good," he said.
詹姆斯认为他的骑士队会赢。他说，“我觉得我们的机会非常好。”

But he is in the minority. Many experts are picking the Warriors to win.
但是他属于少数派，很多专家都认为勇士队会赢。

Tim Reynolds is the basketball writer for the Associated Press news agency. Reynolds wrote that Golden State will win in seven games.
蒂姆·雷诺兹（Tim Reynolds）是美联社的篮球作家。雷诺兹写道，勇士队将会在七场比赛中获胜。

His reason? Cleveland's defense is not good enough to stop Golden State.
他为什么这么说呢？骑士队的防守不够好，防不住勇士队。

"James will push Golden State to the limit. But in the end, the 2016 loss will be avenged and the championship confetti will finally fall on Durant."
他说，“詹姆士将会把勇士队逼到极限。但是最后，勇士队将会为2016年的失利复仇，杜兰特终将拿到冠军。”

The website FiveThirtyEight.com wrote that the Warriors might be the best team in NBA history, even better than last year's team, which set a record with 73 wins.
538.com网站写道，这支勇士队可能是NBA历史上最好的球队，甚至超过了去年创下73胜记录的那支勇士队。

The site's "prediction system" gives Cleveland only a 10 percent chance of winning the championship.
该网站的预测系统认为骑士队获得冠军的机会只有10%。

But one NBA coach thinks Cleveland will win. Tom Thibodeau is the coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. He called Golden State "dominant," but also complimented James.
但是有位NBA教练认为，骑士队将会获胜。汤姆·蒂博多（Tom Thibodeau）是明尼苏达森林狼队的教练。他称勇士队是统治者，但是也称赞了詹姆斯。

"You can never bet against LeBron. If a game is close down the stretch, he can take it over," Thibodeau said.
蒂博多说：“你永远没法小看詹姆斯。如果一场比赛接近尾声，他有能力接管比赛。”