Magnolia, San Miguel eye commanding 2-0 leads in PBA semifinals
Magnolia, San Miguel eye commanding 2-0 leads in PBA semifinals
MAGNOLIA and San Miguel eye a commanding 2-0 lead in their respective PBA 48th Season Commissioner’s Cup semifinals on Friday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Hotshots play the Phoenix Fuel Masters again at 8 p.m. after pulling off an 82-79 win in Game One last Wednesday.
The Beermen and the Gin Kings open Friday’s doubleheader at 4 p.m. San Miguel nipped Ginebra, 92-90, in their series opener.
Both Magnolia and San Miguel do not see a walk-in-the-park in Game Two especially with how the opening game of the series panned out.
The Hotshots needed a late Tyler Bey three-point play to put away the Fuel Masters in Game One, while the Beermen win came down to the final possessions after CJ Perez helped his team regain the lead after being down by six.
“Hindi sila ‘yung sinasabi na Phoenix dati,” said Paul Lee. “Sobrang solid nung team nila at magaling sila manggulo sa depensa. Hindi naman sila magiging top four kung mahina sila. Credit din talaga sa Phoenix na tinrabaho nila at pinagtutulong-tulungan nila para makarating sila dito sa position na ito.”
Bey had 23 points and 10 rebounds for Magnolia as it also limited Phoenix import Johnathan Williams to only 11 points, his lowest output this conference.
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Chris Ross also expects a fight back from Barangay Ginebra, knowing how head coach Tim Cone can turn things around to their side.
“Hopefully, we can play better on Friday. I’ve been around coach Tim long enough, being on his side a few times too, knowing what kind of adjustments he is going to make. We know we have to better,” said Ross, referring to his stints with Cone in the national team.
Ginebra has its hands full with the weapons San Miguel has including Perez, who delivered his best offensive night for the Beermen in Game One with 26 points.