It's a fitful year. The Heat sleepwalk through some games, look like world-beaters in others and seem to be biding¹ their time until the playoffs.
对于热火来说，这是起伏波动的一年。季后赛到来之前，他们在一些比赛中梦游，在另一些比赛中又像是主宰，似乎在等待时机。

The Heat's roster² is studded with stars who never won a title. Point guard Gary Payton reached the finals with three teams before finally grabbing the ring, while Alonzo-Mourning played through 13 seasons, two retirements³ and a serious kidney ailment⁴ for a championship.
热火的阵容中点缀着一些从未得到过总冠军的球星。组织后卫加里·佩顿在得到戒指之前，曾经代表三支不同的队伍打过总决赛，而阿隆佐·莫宁打了13个赛季、退役了两次、带着严重的肾病，才得到这个总冠军。

In the locker⁵ room, it was always 15 STRONG.
在更衣室中，总有15条硬汉。这是帕特·莱利为激励热火球员所设计的话。

locker room：更衣室

15 STRONG: 15条硬汉。这个词被印在卡片上，热火球员可以在上面写下自己的心愿和目标，也可以将自己的照片或者和家人的合影印在上面，然后放进一个碗状容器中以示团结和信心。

Isiah Thomas has one year to turn around the Knicks--something Larry Brown couldn't do. And if Thomas doesn't, he'll be gone, too.
伊塞亚·托马斯只有一年的时间去拯救尼克斯队——这是拉里·布朗所没有做到的事。如果托马斯做不到，他同样会走人。炒掉布朗之后，尼克斯队老板多兰明确表示，他只给托马斯一年的时间。