PBA back this weekend
NLEX, Ginebra look to retain clean records
FOLLOWING a break for the New Year celebrations, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) returns this weekend with a Philippine Cup double-header at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Early league- leaders NLEX Road Warriors go for their third straight win in as many games when they take on the Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters (1-1) at the 4:30 p.m. curtain-raiser while the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings (1-0) look to build on their debut win in their 6:45 p.m. clash with the GlobalPort Batang Pier.
Towed by the impressive play of prized rookie Kiefer Ravena, who is the reigning PBA player of the week, the Road Warriors has gotten to a good start in the season-opening tournament.
The latest of the wins of NLEX came at the expense of GlobalPort, 115-104, on Christmas Day where they had to withstand a tough stand from the undermanned Batang Pier all the way to the end.
Mr. Ravena, the second pick in rookie draft, top-scored anew for NLEX with 20 points to go along with five assists.
Also coming up big for the Road Warriors was veteran forward JR Quiñahan, who finished with 19 points and nine rebounds.
Larry Fonacier added 12 while Juami Tiongson had 12 points for NLEX.
“We take a two-week break after this win but we will use it as a chance to work on our game through practices. We will take advantage of the break that we have to build chemistry and jell more,” said NLEX coach Yeng Guiao following their last win even as he highlighted that need for them to continue improving as a group.
Out to halt NLEX’s roll are the Fuel Masters who are coming off a win of their own after dropping their tournament opener.
Banking on much balance on the offensive end, Phoenix kept Kia Picanto winless with a 125102 victory on Dec. 27.
Matthew Wright and JC Intal led eight players in double-digits for Phoenix in the win with 15 points apiece to notch their first victory in the All-Filipino tournament.
EYE ON 2-0
Barangay Ginebra, meanwhile, was an 89-78 victor in its Christmas Day “Manila Clasico” clash with the Magnolia Hotshots and is now angling to stay unscathed.
Big man Greg Slaughter proved to be a handful for Magnolia in said game, stuffing the stat sheet with 24 points, 13 rebounds, four blocks and two assists to help the Kings to the win.
LA Tenorio and Japeth Aguilar backstopped “Gregzilla” with 15 and 12 points, respectively, with Jervy Cruz coming off the bench to chip in 12 points and eight boards.
“To be honest, I’m surprised how well we played tonight. We’re not perfect but we played with a great energy,” said Kings coach Tim Cone as he made his assessment after their win, surprised since they are coming off a championship in the last conference and that they are still finding their groove.
Waiting for the Kings and looking to bounce back after a loss in its previous game is GlobalPort, which is expected to continue turning to guard Stanley Pringle as All- Star Terrence Romeo remains on the sidelines due to injury.