HOTSHOTS, TEXTERS SQUARE OFF FOR PIVOTAL 2-1 LEAD
Splitting their first two games, titleholder Purefoods Star and Talk n Text fight for the pivotal 2-1 lead as they slug it out in Game Three of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup Final Four faceoff at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Thursday.
It’s now a virtual best-of-three, and the two teams are likely to go harder at each other especially after the last game that was marred by a near brawl at the end of the emotional tussle.
Behind a strong start and a blazing finish, the Tropang Texters got back at the Hotshots, 93-77, in Game Two on Monday.
In the series opener, the Hotshots rode Denzel Bowles’ PBA-best 49-point game in pounding out a 100-94 win.
“Talk n Text certainly surprised us with their physicality and hard fouls to start the game (in Game Two), and then they came through with a huge finishing kick to put us away,” said Purefoods coach Tim Cone.
“Hats off to them. But I think we’ll be a little more prepared this time around,” Cone also said. “It’s a best of three now, so that makes this game crucial for both teams. We knew from the beginning that this was going to be a great series and it is turning out that way.”
Talk n Text coach Jong Uichico sighed after they won the last game, saying it has given them a “fair chance” of winning the series.
The Texters are out to end a streak of setbacks to the Hotshots in post-elims battles – the last in the finale of the same tourney last year.
Import Ivan Johnson, Jason Castro, Ranidel de Ocampo, Jay Washington, Kevin Alas and Larry Fonacier carried the load as the Texters foiled the Hotshots’ bid of taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the series.
These six TnT stalwarts produced double-digit outputs as they snapped the Hotshots’ seven-game winning run from the elimination round.
In contention for the Best Player of the Conference award, Castro fanned his hopes with a team-high 21 points Monday.
Awaiting the winner of the Talk n Text-Purefoods duel is Rain or Shine which completed a three-game sweep of Meralco on Tuesday.
A Rain or Shine-Talk n Text finale will feature an exciting side battle for the BPC plum between Castro and Paul Lee. (SB)
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