VOA常速英语2013--菲律宾 台湾为NBA季前热身赛做好准备（在线收听）

Philippines, Taiwan Set to Host Pre-season NBA Games 菲律宾 台湾为NBA季前热身赛做好准备

WASHINGTON — The Philippines is welcoming the Indiana Pacers and Houston Rockets professional basketball teams on Thursday to play the first-ever NBA game in that Pacific nation.

"Linsanity" has come to Asia; the Houston Rockets and the team's Taiwanese-American sensation Jeremy Lin, are hitting the hardwood at Manila's Mall of Asia Arena ahead of their preseason game against the Indiana Pacers.  The teams will then head to Taiwan for a second matchup on Sunday.

Linsanity已经来到亚洲,休斯顿火箭和这支球队的台湾籍美国人当家球星杰里米·林于季前赛对阵印第安纳步行者队之前在亚洲之行的马尼拉购物商场掀起火爆旋风。火箭稍后将会前往台湾参加周日的第二场焦点对决。

"I'm excited to play here and Taiwan, and I think the fans don't get a chance to watch the NBA game live, so hopefully they will really enjoy the experience. And I think we are going to enjoy it definitely as well,'' said Lin.

“我很高兴能够在台湾打比赛,我想球迷们已经不必再翘首企盼现场观看NBA球赛的机会,因此,希望他们能真正享受这次经历。我们肯定也会享受比赛,”林说道。

The Rockets have added center Dwight Howard to their lineup. He signed as a free agent after a less than stellar year with the Los Angeles Lakers.

中锋德怀特·霍华德已经加入到火箭队的阵容当中。在洛杉矶湖人队不到一年后作为自由球员的他被签入。

"I always tell myself there's a rainbow after every storm, so I had that period of bad weather and I'm looking forward to the rainbow," said Howard, looking forward to the upcoming season.

“我总是对自己讲风雨过后必定会有彩虹,所以既然有了这段糟糕的经历我就很期待着接下来的华丽转身。”对即将到来的赛季充满期待的霍华德说道。

The Pacers and head coach Frank Vogel are hungry to improve after losing to the NBA Champions, the Miami Heat, in last season's Eastern Conference finals.

步行者队及主教练弗兰克·沃格尔对于上赛季东部决赛中与之失之交臂被热火夺走的NBA总冠军仍然如饥似渴。

"Still improving, that's probably how I rate it. Never feel satisfied with the job that we've done and, you know, you just have to keep studying the game, keep studying our team and playing them in the best position to win games,'' said Vogel.

“仍然需要改善,这恐怕是我现在的感同身受。对我们所做的从不感到满意,你知道,你要做的只是不断研究比赛,解读我们的球队，为赢得比赛让最合适的人出现在最佳位置,”沃格尔说道。

Key to Thursday's game will be the return of injured player Danny Granger, who averaged nearly 19 points a game in the 2011 season.

周四比赛的关键将是受伤球员丹尼·格兰杰的回归,在2011年赛季场均斩获19分的人物。

"I'm just happy to be playing again. I tried last year but it was unsuccessful, but thankfully we have some good doctors in Indiana and I had a good surgeon, so I'm doing well," said Granger.

“我只是高兴能再次上场。我去年曾尝试但并不成功,但值得庆幸的是在印第安纳州我们有些很好的医生而且我有一个很棒的外科医生,所以我恢复的很好,”格兰杰说。

The Pacers-Rockets match-ups are part of the NBA's comprehensive Global Games, consisting of eight pre-season games to be played in six countries ahead of the start of the NBA season on October 29. 

步行者和火箭的巅峰对决是NBA海外季前赛的其中一场,这八场季前热身赛将于10月29日NBA赛季正式开始前在六个国家上演。