Meralco tries to ride the momentum of its big victory last Friday in Lucena City, but coach Norman Black said his Bolts need a much better job if they are to repeat over Barangay Ginebra Sunday in the resumption of their 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup championship series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We want to have a better job on Sunday (today),” said Black, his voice drowned by a wild celebration that followed the Bolts’ 104-102 win in Game 2 of the best-of-7 title series at the Quezon Convention Center.
“We never knew those shots are gonna fall. We did not have those shots before this game. So the guys came in with more confidence and we were knocking down big shots,” added Black.
As a result, the Bolts left that progressive city capital of the Quezon Province the same night carrying great momentum which they hope to sustain when they play the Gin Kings in Game 3 at 6:30 p.m. today.
Stung by 91-87 loss in last Tuesday’s series opener, the Bolts instead flashed a high-intensity offensive and decked the Gin Kings with a finals’ record 16 triples, with Baser Amer making five, Nard Pinto four and Allen Durham 3.
A quick look at the first two games of the series reveals that both the Gin Kings and the Bolts showed excellent offense.
In last Tuesday’s series opener, the Gin Kings pierced the Bolts’ vaunted defense by making shots against the most trying moments.
The result gave the Gin Kings a 91-87 win and a good momentum going to Lucena. Alas, the league’s most popular ballclub failed to ride the win, no thanks to the Bolts’ own admirable shooting prowess.
“Our defense allowed them (Bolts) a lot of open shots, so we’ve got a lot to go back to the drawing boards and figure what’s going on,” admitted Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
“We’re just a poor defensive team tonight,” lamented Cone. “They (Bolts) got a lot of good shots from Nico Salva and the other guys. What can I say? They played really well and we did not play well.”
As for the Bolts, Black added that the one big factor that really gave them a big lift was that sort of fear of losing which will mean going down to 0-2.
“Of course, there’s also the determination of not wanting to go down 0-2,” said Black, adding they were a little bit scary prior to the game.
“It’s nice to get this win here. You know we’re a little scary because we’ve never won here (in Lucena) in the finals,” added Black.
Prior to Game 2, PBA statistician Fidel Mangonon III said Meralco was 0-2 in Lucena overall and had a 4-game losing streak in road games dating back in 2018 Philippine Cup.
The last time the Bolts won on the road prior to Game 2 was, interestingly, against Ginebra at the Philippine Arena in that same 2018 Philippine Cup elimination.
The Gin Kings, on the other hand, won five of their last six games in Lucena and were 8-5 there overall.
Durham led the Bolts with 21 points, 18 rebounds and six assists, Amer and Chris Newsome were easily the brightest among the Meralco locals with 17 points each, while Raymond Almazan quietly distributed 15 points and nine rebounds.
Pinto finished with 12 points which were all coming from three-point area. The seldom-used gunner hit all of his four three-pointers in the first quarter to set the tone for the hot-shooting Bolts.
Ginebra drew 35 points and 11 rebounds from Justin Brownlee, with Stanley Pringle adding 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Japeth Aguilar 18 points.
Game today (Smart Araneta Coliseum)
Game 3, best-of-7 FINALS
6:30 p.m. — Meralco vs. Ginebra