Mga laro ngayon:
(Mall of Asia Arena)
6 p.m. – Ginebra vs Meralco
(Game 2, best-of-7 finals)
TANGAN ang momentum sa panalo sa Game 1, puntirya ng gutom sa titulo na Meralco ang ikalawang sunod na panalo laban sa defending champion Barangay Ginebra sa Game 2 ng best-of-7 PBA Governors’ Cup finals ngayon sa Mall of Asia Arena.
Nakatakda ang laro sa alas-6 ng gabi.
Determinado ang Bolts na kunin ang 2-0 bentahe at lumapit ng dalawang laro para masungkit ang unang PBA title at muling makabalik si coach Norman Black sa elite “Circle of Champions”.
“We’ll take advantage of our win in Game 1. We will play our best and sharpen our offense and toughen our defence to win anew,” sabi ni Black.
“We want to make history although we know it’s not easy,” sabi naman ni Aaron Black, isa sa mga nagpanalo sa Meralco sa Game 1.
“I thought we got off to a good start offensively and our defense held up very, very well,” anang nakatatandang Black.
Muling pangungunahan ni import Tony Bishop ang opensiba ng Meralco, katuwang sina Allein Maliksi, Jeff Hodge, Bong Quinto at Raymond Alamazan.
Nagbuhos si Bishop ng 20 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists at 2 stieals, at nakipagsanib-puwersa kina Maliksi at Hodge sa mainit na opensiba sa last quarter tungo s impresibong 104-91 panalo sa Game 1.
Kailangang handa ang 32-anyos na Texan import sa muling pakikipaglaban kay Justin Brownlee. Papasok si Brownlee sa court na fully armed at determinadong makaganti para itabla ang serye 1-1.
Nakahandang umalalay kay Brownlee sina Scottie Thompson, LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar, Christian Starhardinger, Joe Devance at Arvin Mariano.
Hindi makapapayag si Ginebra coach Tim Cone na matalo ulit para hindi malagay sa balag ng alanganin ang kanilang title retention bid.
“We cannot afford to lose this game. We’ll do our everything to win and even the series. I instructed my players to play just hard enough and utilize all available resources to win,” sabi ni Cone.
“This conference is very important to us for two reasons: our prestige and title retention campaign is at stake,” dagdag ni Cone.
Tinalo ng Barangay Ginebra ang Meralco sa kanilang unang tatllong paghaharap sa Governors’ Cup finals noong 2016, 2017 at 2019. CLYDE MARIANO
