What worked against Ginebra is working again for Meralco vs. San Miguel

What worked against Ginebra is working again for Meralco vs. San Miguel

MERALCO is now on the cusp of a first-ever PBA championship with yet another grind-out win over defending champion San Miguel, 92-88, in Game 5 of the Philippine Cup finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Friday night.

Allein Maliksi sparked the Bolts early on, before Chris Newsome took over in the homestretch to secure the win that put them closer to ending a 14-year title drought.

READ: Meralco a win away from first-ever PBA title after holding off SMB

It’s the first time in five finals that Meralco enjoys a 3-2 lead in a best-of-seven series -  meaning the Bolts have two chances of closing out the mighty Beermen, who are now on the brink of losing a season everyone expected them to dominate

Game 6 is set Sunday, while Game 7, if necessary, is scheduled on Wednesday, both at the Big Dome.

Here are the takeaways from Meralco's Game 5 win over San Miguel.

THE MERALCO FORMULA WORKED WONDERS AGAIN

Meralco applied the same formula it did against Barangay Ginebra to San Miguel, and the ploy worked once more. The Bolts allowed June Mar Fajardo to score points in bunches (36 points, 18 rebounds), but never let the rest of the Beermen get into their groove.

standhardinger meralco ginebra pba

PHOTO: Jerome Ascano

Other than CJ Perez, no other San Miguel player finished in double-figures. Meralco did the same thing in their semis series against the Kings, allowing big man Christian Standhardinger do damage offensively, but making sure to shut down - or, at least - limit the rest of fully-loaded Ginebra. And that's exactly the reason why they're in the finals.

BOTH SQUADS TWEAKED THEIR STARTERS

The two teams went into the game altering their starting units. Looking to score a knockout punch early on, the Beermen sat out regular starter Rodney Brondial for Mo Tautuaa to go along with Fajardo, Perez, Marcio Lassiter, and Chris Ross.

Meralco's Raymond Almazan

PHOTO: Jerome Ascano

But Meralco countered by letting Cliff Hodge come off the bench and put rookie energizer Brandon Bates in the company of Newsome, Chris Banchero, Bong Quinto, and Raymond Almazan. Hodge, of course, came on and had his minutes sooner than later and finished with six points, nine rebounds, and four assists.

MALIKSI RESPONDS TO THE CHALLENGE

Maliksi took note of ‘that article’ which called him, Almazan, and Quinto out following Meralco’s Game 4 loss. Obviously, it pricked the pride of the veteran so much so that he came out guns ablaze Friday night.

Meralco's Allein Maliksi and Chris Newsome

PHOTO: Jerome Ascano

Averaging just 8.3 points in the previous three outings, Maliksi exploded out of the gate and already had 11 points by halftime. He went on to finish with 22 points to share scoring honors with Newsome, all while shooting 10-of-17 from the field including 2-of-4 from deep. Focused and motivated, Maliksi stood up to the challenge and proved his worth. A consistent performance from him would definitely be one of the keys for the Bolts to finally win an ever-elusive PBA championship.

SAN MIGUEL WHEN DOWN 3-2

Being down in the finals after Game 5 (3-2) is nothing new to San Miguel.

San Miguel fans

PHOTO: Jerome Ascano

According to PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III, in the last 15 years, the Beermen still went on to win the championship in three of the four times it faced the same predicament, among them the 2022 Philippine Cup against TNT, the 2019 Philippine Cup opposite Magnolia, and Barangay Ginebra in the 2009 Fiesta Conference. Will history repeat itself?