Magnolia eyes 2-0
Game Today (Mall of Asia Arena) 6:30 p.m. – Magnolia vs San Miguel (Magnolia leads series 1-0)
The Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok, buoyed by their stunning comeback victory in Game 1, shoot for a 2-0 lead over the defending champion San Miguel Beermen tonight as the best-of-7 PBA Philippine Cup Finals shifts to the Mall of Asia Arena.
Magnolia pulled off the improbable two nights ago, rallying from a 20-point third quarter deficit to beat San Miguel, 105-103, in a thrilling opening act to the title series of the PBA’s preeminent tournament.
Coach Chito Victolero, however, refused to buy into the notion that the Hotshots have gained momentum despite entering the series as underdogs against a Beermen side seeking a fourth straight title in the PH Cup.
“Hopefully ma-sustain namin ‘tong energy na to,” Victolero said. “Sana lang yung hinabol naming malaki, di napagod players namin doon.”
Ian Sangalang, rookie Robbie Herndon and Rafi Reavis keyed Magnolia’s rally that left the talented Beermen side that held a 72-52 lead on a June Mar Fajardo three-point play with 9:21 remaining in the third in shambles.
San Miguel coach Leo Austria later rued his decision not to make defensive adjustments, allowing Sangalang to have the game of his life with 14 of his 25 points in the fourth, including the go-ahead free throws off a late Fajardo foul.
“I guess na we fell in love with our defense because it gave us a lot of glory in the past few games, but I was not able to react when we needed to go back to manto-man,” said Austria, referring to the zone defense he made that enabled San Miguel to close out Barangay Ginebra in the semis.
But the Beermen are expected to regain their mean streak in the 6:30 p.m. match with Fajardo, the leading candidate for the Best Player of the Conference award, out to atone for his 11-turnover showing despite 31 points and 19 rebounds.
Alex Cabagnot, Marcio Lassiter, Arwind Santos and Chris Ross are also tasked to play big roles anew but San Miguel wants to have more contribution from the bench, which only produced one point.