Games on Friday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
5 p.m. – NorthPort vs TNT
7:30 p.m. – Meralco vs Ginebra
AT one point of the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup eliminations, defending champion Meralco teetered on the brink with only three wins to show in its first eight outings.
But the Bolts have restored power and racked up a pair of crucial victories over Blackwater (103-85) and erstwhile streaking NLEX (108-92) to stay inside the Last-8 cutline.
And with ninth-running Phoenix falling to 2-6 with its 99-109 loss to Rain or Shine on Wednesday, the Bolts got themselves in position to advance outright and totally extinguish the Fuel Masters’ threat at the eighth seat by finishing at 6-5.
But the charges of coach Luigi Trillo have to do it against fourth-running Barangay Ginebra (5-2), no less, in an explosive rivalry matchup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum tonight.
The Gin Kings themselves are bent on notching the required six wins for a hassle-free march to the next round alongside early qualifiers Magnolia (7-1), San Miguel (6-2), NLEX (6-2) and Converge (6-4).
“It should be a battle. They need to win. We also need to win,” said Meralco forward Cliff Hodge of the 7:30 p.m. dispute for a guaranteed stint in the quarterfinals.
The Bolts, though, need this more, this being their last gig of the eliminations. If they drop it, then it would open the door for the Fuel Masters to catch up at 5-6 with a three-game closeout and set a KO for No. 8.
“Our playoff hopes are on the line so we’re going to go out there and treat it like a do-or-die (situation) and give it all we got,” said Mr. Hodge.
Meanwhile, grand slam-seeking TNT (4-3) seeks to extend its streak to five and move closer to the quarters against struggling NorthPort (1-6) in the curtain raiser.
The 5 p.m. match features teams involved in big trades recently.
The Tropang 5G acquired Jordan Heading from Converge in exchange for Mikey Williams in a swap proposal still awaiting league approval. For their part, the Batang Pier shipped William Navarro to Magnolia to get Calvin Abueva and Jerrick Balanza as well as the Hotshots’ future draft pick. This agreement already had PBA blessing and NorthPort quickly activated Balanza in place of Agem Miranda ahead of the encounter with TNT. — Olmin Leyba
