NOt even close.
Meralco sent a loud message to the league after it debuted emphatically, mercilessly dismantling helpless Blackwater, 107- 78, in its first game in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.
Allen Durham is back in harness and back to work as usual, producing 18 points and 21 rebounds for a monster double-double, while Baser Amer was as impressive, shooting 9-of-12 for a team-high 20 points, five rebounds and eight assists in a complete game for the Bolts.
It didn’t took Meralco long to create the separation and break the game wide open right away.
Just nine minutes into the game, last season’s runner-up already detonated a huge bomb, starting the game with a 22-point bubble right away, 30-8, with Amer leading the charge.
Meralco’s eight triples in the first 24 minutes helped its bid to quickly put the game to rest.
The Bolts further pushed their lead to a whopping 32-point cushion, 61-29, with exactly three minutes left before halftime.
Blackwater was never in it as Meralco was totally in the zone and hardly broke a sweat.
The Bolts joined Phoenix and NLEX into the winning column.
As of this report, Rain or Shine and GlobalPort are making their debut against each other, hoping to also get an early win.
Next up for the Bolts is the defending champion Barangay Ginebra tomorrow as they figure in a finals’ rematch from last year.
Trevis Simpson had a game-high 25 points for Blackwater, but didn’t get much help from his teammates.
The Elite next face Star also on Sunday.