AFTER a more than a week break to give way to what was an eventful third window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup resumes today with a double-header at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The San Miguel Beermen and Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok, two teams looking to fortify their spots in the next round, battle also-rans Blackwater Elite and NLEX Road Warriors.
Defending champion San Miguel (5-4) takes on Blackwater (1-9) in the curtain-raiser at 4:30 p.m. while Magnolia (4-5) engages NLEX (2-8) in the main game at 7 p.m.
The Beermen have had it rough in the ongoing tournament but are currently on a two-game roll to significantly help their cause and move up the standings.
San Miguel’s latest victory came on June 23 against NLEX, 125-114, in an out-of-town game that saw its starters in a dominating performance.
June Mar Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, Renaldo Balkman, Alex Cabagnot and Chris Ross all scored in double digits with Mr. Fajardo leading the way with 30 points.
Such proved to be too much to handle for the Road Warriors as the game wore on as the latter saw the Beermen pull away with the win that secured for them a quarterfinal spot.
San Miguel hopes to continue its ascent against tailending Blackwater, which has lost two straight games that has only compounded their misery in the midseason PBA tournament.
STAVE OFF ELIMINATION
Magnolia, meanwhile, looks to book a win that could well push it to the next round and stave off early elimination.
Sitting precariously at eighth spot with two games left in their schedule in the elimination round, the Hotshots, which lost in their last game to the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings, 104-84, on June 17, try to make the most of their remaining games to create more elbow room as they shoot for a spot in the quarterfinals.
Looking to spoil the Hotshots in their thrust is NLEX, which will be playing its final game of the tournament and is out to exit on a winning note and end a four-game losing streak in the process. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
