At A Glance
- The streaking Barangay Ginebra looks to crash the party and forge a three-way tie at the top spot when it clashes against archrival Meralco in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner's Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Friday, May 1.
The streaking Barangay Ginebra looks to crash the party and forge a three-way tie at the top spot when it clashes against archrival Meralco in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Friday, May 1.
Riding the crest of a hot five-game win streak, the Kings are aiming to move closer to the twice-to-beat incentive at the end of their 7:30 p.m. affair against the Bolts.
Providing a fitting appetizer is the equally crucial duel between Phoenix and TNT – two teams raring to secure their places in the magic 8 – at 5:15 p.m.
Ginebra head coach Tim Cone, however, isn’t putting much pressure on his wards to keep the streak alive but maintained they need to be laser-focused especially against the defensive-minded Bolts.
“Basketball is a game of habits. We just try to keep our habits going. We are going into a stretch of three really hard games against Meralco, TNT and Rain or Shine,” said Cone.
“But this is where we want to get to. This is something we had talked about. We have to make sure that we show up in the last four games,” he added.
Justin Brownlee and RJ Abarrientos are expected to lead the charge for the Kings alongside Scottie Thompson, Stephen Holt and Japeth Aguilar.
Meralco, however, is surely not going to just roll over and die, especially since it is hoping to snap a two-game slide and avoid any complications to its playoff hopes.
Marvin Jones will be at the forefront of the attack with guys like Chris Newsome and CJ Cansino needing to bring their A-game if they wish to improve their 5-3 record and stay in contention for the quarters bonus.