MERALCO shoots for a win that will push the Bolts to the quarterfinals of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup but head coach Norman Black’s wary of a tough fight from a Barangay Ginebra San Miguel side that’s comfortable playing with its back against the wall.
The Meralco-Ginebra game is set at 5:45 p.m. after the clash between Phoenix Super LPG and Rain or Shine at 3 p.m.
A third straight victory will send Meralco (5-3 won-lost) in the company of TNT Tropang Giga (8-1), San Miguel Beer (7-2), Converge (6-3) and NLEX (6-3) to the quarterfinal stage.
“It’s Ginebra so it’s going to be a tough game and I expect the crowd to be there,” Black said “They’re shooting really well, they lead the field goal percentage, so one of the keys is our ability to defend their fastbreaks.”
Besides Scottie Thompson, Jamie Malonzo and import Justin Brownlee, who played for the national team Friday and Monday, Black expressed his concern over big man Christian Standhardinger who is averaging 19.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists in four games.
“Standhardinger is the other concern because he is playing really well,” Black said.
Meralco is coming off an 86-84 win last Sunday against Magnolia with import KJ McDaniels making 19 points and 15 rebounds.
Ginebra will be returning with Thompson, Malonzo and Brownlee to improve its current 4-2 record.
All teams are hoping to be in the top four after the eliminations to avail themselves of a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals. Meralco still has three games while Ginebra has five more matches to play.
Encho Serrano, meanwhile, goes for another spectacular performance to extend Phoenix Super LPG’s winning streak when it battles Rain or Shine.
Serrano had a season-high 28 points in their 106-103 victory over Converge last Sunday as the Fuel Masters hiked their record to 3-5.
The Elasto Painters (2-6) are hoping to end a two-game slide.