THE semifinals of the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup kicks off on Sunday pitting two hungry teams.
Top seed Meralco and No. 4 Star meet in Game 1 of their best-of-five semis affair to jumpstart their war at 6:30 p.m. at the Alonte Sports Arena in Binan, Laguna.
Both sides look ahead to an intense back-and-forth battle in the semis.
“We were forced to the limit in the quarterfinals but I hope we can play better against Star. That’s the only way we can win,” said Meralco coach Norman Black.
“We’re back in the semis again. We’re excited and expecting it to be hard. We’ve been here the last two conferences as well and we hope to finally make it to the finals this time,” said Hotshots coach Chito Victolero.
The two protagonists took opposite paths in the quarterfinals to get to where they are now.
The top-ranked Bolts were unexpectedly pushed to the limit by No. 8 Blackwater and almost got upset before coming through right on time.
Meralco, which enjoyed a twice-to-beat advantage, was forced to play a knockout game after getting stunned by the Elite in their first meeting.
In their rubber match Thursday night, the Bolts trailed for most part before waking up in the clutch to grind out a 104-96 win and avoid Blackwater’s upset bullet.
On the other hand, Star, which likewise enjoyed a twice-to-beat incentive, took care of business right away, eliminating NLEX, 89-77, last Tuesday on the first try.
Over at the other side of the fence, No. 3 Barangay Ginebra still awaits who it will duel in the other semis series.
The Gin Kings will face either No. 2 TNT KaTropa or No. 7 Rain or Shine.