San Miguel, TNT face off in meeting of champions

San Miguel Beer and TNT finally meet in a battle of champions Saturday, with both pushing their drive for an outright semifinal entry in the Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Beermen, the reigning Philippine Cup and Governors Cup champs, and the Tropang Texters, the Commissioner’s Cup titleholders, clash at 5:15 p.m., each one looking to jack up their stocks atop the leaderboard.

San Miguel is a breath away from a top two finish with an 8-1 win-loss card. Meanwhile, TNT is two full games behind at 6-3 but still has that slim chance to catch up with the leaders at the end of the single-round-robin elimination phase.

The Texters, however, would need to sweep their last three games against the Beermen, the Globalport Batang Pier and the Barangay Ginebra Kings for a possible playoff crack at an outright semis berth.

The Beermen and the Texters are expected to figure in a dogfight as both are determined to push their aspiration.

“We have to win as we don’t want to rely on the other teams,” said SMB coach Leo Austria.

“We want to win every game. Then kung saan kami bumagsak, dun kami,” said TNT coach Jong Uichico, on the other hand.

“We want to win games and try to fix the way we’re playing. I still don’t like the way we’re playing. We don’t play hard enough,” Uichico also said.

Uichico was particularly not happy on how they ended their 95-85 win over Rain or Shine Sunday.

“We played good for three quarters and a half at nag-relax in the end,” rued Uichico.

The TNT bench chieftain should have sounded this off to his team ahead of their crucial match with the
Beermen, an elite duel pitting the powerhouse rosters of both sides.

Junmar Fajardo’s showdown with Moala Tautuaa and Troy Rosario, and Jayson Castro’s battle with Alex Cabagnot and Chris Ross are among the focal points of the game.

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