THE Hong Kong Bay Area Dragons and Magnolia Hotshots go for a quick entry to the best-of-five semifinals when they face separate opponents Friday in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
The Dragons, who topped the elimination with 10 wins and two losses, holds a twice-to-beat advantage over the eighth-seeded Rain or Shine Elasto Painters who they face starting at 3 p.m.
No. 2 Magnolia, also 10-2 after the eliminations, has the same twice-to-beat advantage over the No. 7 Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters in their 5:45 p.m. game.
Super import Myles Powell, only 6-foot-2 but with a 37.5-point average in eight games, tweaked his ankle during practice forcing the Bay Area Dragons to tap again 6-foot-10 National Basketball Association veteran big man Andrew Nicholson for another tour of duty in the league.
Despite the huge disadvantages, Rain or Shine Coach Yeng Guiao said they would try to hand on for as long as they can to forge a do-or-die quarterfinal game.
The Fuel Masters, who were 6-6 in the eliminations, are expected to lean on young guns Tyler Tio and Encho Serrano to stay alive in the series.