Philippine Cup q’finals tonight
Barangay Ginebra and Rain or Shine face off on one side and Alaska Milk and NLEX square off on the other side in a pair of three bestof-three quarterfinals that kicks off the PBA Philippine Cup playoffs tonight at the MOA Arena in Pasay City.
Meanwhile, top seed San Miguel Beer and second seed Magnolia take their first of two cracks at the Final Four at the same venue tomorrow.
The reigning three-time allFilipino champs Beermen tangle with either the TNT KaTropa Texters or the Phoenix Fuel Masters while the Hotshots take on the GlobalPort Batang Pier.
The Aces and the Road Warriors are likely to engage in a fierce duel in their 4:30 p.m. tiff that sets the post-elims play in motion. The Kings and the EPainters slug it out at 7 p.m.
“We are excited to start our series versus Alaska. We feel we are ready,” said NLEX coach Yeng Guiao.
“We can throw everything out of the window because our previous records don’t mean a thing anymore. It’s all even and that’s all we want,” Guiao added. “Alaska is always a title contender. They might even have an edge in terms of playoff experience but we have something to prove. To me that counts a lot.”
“NLEX is a tough and talented team. We will have to be great defensively from start to finish and make great decisions with the basketball,” said Alaska coach Alex Compton.
Meanwhile, 48 hours after their grueling triple-overtime duel, the Kings and the Elasto Painters slug it out again to start their side of the quarters.
With what they showed in their marathon duel Friday, both are upbeat going to Game One of their race to two games series.
“That’s the first good thing that happened to us this conference,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone, heaving a sigh of relief they avoided a joint finish from seventh to 10 places that would’ve required them to go through a knockout playoff for the eighth and last quarters spot.
The Kings instead caught up with the E-Painters and the Road Warriors at 6-5 on their 100-92 grind-out win Friday night.
“We lost energy and lost the game, but the good thing was that we saw that we could compete with them,” said ROS center Beau Belga.
Two nights earlier, the Elasto Painters clipped June Mar Fajardo and the San Miguel Beermen, 95-80.And that could be an added boost for the EPainters.
Both teams have their health woes with E-Painters James Yap and Chris Tiu nursing injuries and Kings Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar having their own injuries.
Cone said Slaughter is doubtful for the entire series with a sprained ankle while Aguilar would have to endure back spasm.
Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia, however, wouldn’t buy Cone’s claim, saying they would prepare for a battle against a Ginebra team with its full roster.
The E-Painters are determined to wage a battle as they’ve been out of the PBA Final Four since winning the 2016PBACommissioner’sCup.
The Kings, meanwhile, hope to pick up their game in the playoffs to be able to pursue their hopes for back-to-back championships.
The Governors Cup titlists have been struggling all conference long, barely gaining an automatic quarterfinals passage in winning their last game in the elims.
“We’ve been struggling from the start with the injuries to Joe Devance, Sol Mercado and now Greg Slaughter,” said Cone. —