Magnolia shoots for top spot against Blackwater
HAVING won their last four games that has seen them move their way to a tie for the top spot in the PBA Philippine Cup, the Magnolia Hotshots look to extend it some more and seize solo lead when they go up against the Blackwater Elite today at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Currently in joint first place with the defending champions San Miguel Beermen at 5-1 midway into the elimination round of the season-opening tournament of the Philippine Basketball Association ( PBA), the Hotshots, which will take on the Elite in the 4:30 p.m. game, have shed their iffy start and gone on to become one of the formidable and hottest teams in the league right now, something they hope to sustain moving forward.
In its last game against the TNT KaTropa, Magnolia bucked an injury to key cog Paul Lee (ankle) early in the second half to get the better of their opponents, 91-83.
The rest of the team stepped up to compensate for the loss of Mr. Lee, resulting in a multipronged attack by Magnolia, which TNT had a hard time keeping in step with all the way to the end.
Mark Barroca came off the bench to lead the Hotshots with 20 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Justin Melton finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Marc Pingris had 13 markers.
“With Paul going down, the players really stepped. They kept their focus and I’m happy and proud of their effort,” said Magnolia coach Chito Victolero.
He also made mention of the good defense they showed against TNT, limiting a potentially explosive squad to just 83 points.
As of this writing, there is no word yet if Mr. Lee, whose injury was ruled a sprain, would play today but Mr. Victolero said that in the event that the player has to miss games, he hopes it would not be long a time.
SLIDING
While the Hotshots are streaking upward, their opponents today, the Elite, have gone in the opposite direction.
After winning two of its first three matches, Blackwater has slid considerably, dropping its last three games that pushed it down in the standings at 2-4, good for joint ninth place.
The latest of the Elite’s defeat came at the hands of the Alaska Aces, 88-84, last Jan. 27, a game that the former was in a position to win but just could not deliver in the end.
JP Erram had a stellar doubledouble of 14 points and 21 rebounds, on top of five blocks, for Blackwater with Mac Belo and Michael DiGregorio each adding 15.
They just could not answer back to Alaska when push came to shove down the stretch en route to dropping another game.
“We had our chances during this losing streak but we just could not take advantage of them. We must do a better job in our next games,” said Mr. Erram.
Meanwhile, playing in the 7 p.m. game are the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (3-3) and Meralco Bolts (2-4).