NBA2013-14赛季第一周的比赛已尘埃落定。一起来看ESPN对过去一周的比赛进行盘点，讨论了最像总冠军黑马的球队。

印第安纳步行者，虽然他们不是严格意义上的黑马，不过在强手如林的东部，不少人都觉得步行者肯定干不过迈阿密热火、芝加哥公牛和布鲁克林篮网他们。（They aren't exactly a surprise contender, but in an Eastern Conference with Miami, Chicago and Brooklyn, a lot of folks felt Indy might fall off some this year. ）步行者可没有看起来那么弱。步行者上赛季季后赛的成功靠的是罗伊-希伯特的防守。他的犯规率居然比拉里-桑德斯还高，他能不能留在场上还是个问题；而且他的大招也是时灵时不灵。但是无论如何，保罗-乔治行云流水的进攻和步行者领跑联盟的防守依旧让人深深折服。

森林狼拿冠军不太靠谱，但是赛季之初的表现令人意想不到。我或许他们离总冠军还比较遥远，但是他们一直在路上。明尼苏达在上个赛季是黑马预测的大热门，而过去的一周里，球队的表现简直让人目瞪口呆。除了遗憾告负骑士，森林狼主场胖揍雷霆，客场打趴尼克斯，顺手还刷到了史上第三高的净胜分差注1。实力如此突飞猛进，森林狼的秘诀是？——乐福。这位前锋上场时胜率和胜场在联盟排第二，高达29的PER也是高居第五。

Instead, we'll roll with the Pacers. They aren't exactly a surprise contender, but in an Eastern Conference with Miami, Chicago and Brooklyn, a lot of folks felt Indy might fall off some this year. If anything, they look better.The Pacers' postseason success was predicated on other worldly defense from Roy Hibbert, who struggles to stay on the court because of a foul rate worse than Larry Sanders' and who has mastered a skill (verticality) that may or may not be a real thing. But I'm bending with every masterful offensive performance by Paul George and every stonewalling by a defense that again leads the league.

While I can't actually foresee a Timberwolves title, they do look fantastic early on. You know how we say that players who won't actually win the MVP "should be part of the conversation"? Maybe that's the Wolves. They aren't a real contender yet, but they're part of the conversation. Despite a skin-of-their-teeth loss to the Cavs on Monday, Minnesota -- a trendy dark-horse pick a season ago -- has looked surprisingly stout in 2013-14, routing OKC at home, topping the Knicks in Gotham, and boasting the third-best scoring differential in basketball. What changed? Love. The forward is second in the NBA in win shares and wins produced, and his 29 PER ranks him fifth.

☆☆☆☆☆五星级词汇及短语
☆ foul rate 犯规率；
☆ contender n. 竞争者；争夺者；They aren't exactly a surprise contender可译为不能算作严格意义上的竞争者。
☆ masterful熟练的；巧妙的；老练的 ；精湛的；精彩的；通常用来形容技术娴熟。