by Jonas Terrado
Game Friday (Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7 p.m. — Magnolia vs Rain or Shine
Game Saturday (Mall of Asia Arena)
6:30 p.m. — San Miguel vs Phoenix Pulse
Paul Lee sparked Magnolia to an 85-72 victory over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the rubber match of their best-of-three quarterfinals to advance to the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Lee fired 13 of his 25 points in the third quarter, including a transition three-pointer with 57 seconds left that put the Hotshots up 68-48 and stunning most of 11,174 fans that attended the do-or-die encounter.
Magnolia celebrates the points of teammate Paul Lee during the PBA Philippine Cup Quarterfinals against Ginebra at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum, April 10, 2019 (MB photo | Rio Leonelle Deluvio)
Magnolia’s stingy defense forced Ginebra to multiple mistakes which led to the big lead and eventually clinch a 2-1 series win that set up a best-of-seven semifinals affair against Rain or Shine.
Their series will start on Friday also at the Big Dome.
The Hotshots reached the semifinals despite starting the conference with three straight losses and 1-4 almost halfway into the eliminations.
Magnolia won five of its final six games to claim the sixth seed in the playoffs before bouncing back from an 86-75 loss to Ginebra in Game 1 to take the next two games.
“I don’t know kung paano namin nasurvive tong conference namin,” said Magnolia coach Chito Victolero. “We started very slow because of the championship hangover but I’m very proud of my players for showing their grit, their aggressiveness, their effort and the desire to win.”
Ginebra made some adjustments by putting a pressure defense while baskets from Jeff Chan reduced Magnolia’s lead to nine, 78-69, going into the final three minutes.
But Lee answered with a triple, 2:38 to play, to give Magnolia an 81-69 advantage, thus dealing Ginebra its first quarterfinal exit since the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup.
Chan finished with 17 points but it was a disappointing showing for Ginebra, which committed 15 turnovers while going 8-of-33 from rainbow territory.
Scores:
Magnolia 85 - Lee 25, Barroca 13, Ramos 11, Sangalang 10, Reavis 6, Jalalon 6, Brondial 5, Dela Rosa 4, Melton 3, Herndon 2.
Ginebra 72 - Chan 17, Aguilar 16, Devance 12, Slaughter 9, Mercado 8, Tenorio 5, Thompson 3, Dela Cruz 2, Ferrer 0.
Quarters: 20-23, 42-37, 70-50, 85-72