Ginebra, Star clash in Manila Classico

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Barangay Ginebra and Star have both just checked their losing skids and each one is looking to build momentum as they face off in a key matchup in the Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Sunday.

Both teams snapped out of a slump from last conference the last time out with the Gin Kings repulsing the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 103-92, and the Hotshots routing the Blackwater Elite, 122-103.

Ginebra seeks a second win in four starts while Star guns for a second victory against three losses as they mix it up at 5:15 p.m. before an expected sellout crowd at the Big Dome.

A matchup between the most followed teams in the league, the Ginebra-Star duel has drawn followings of its own, titillated by the now famous Manila Clasico tag.

Both teams know the importance of the game.

“It doesn’t matter who we play, we need to win,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone. It’s also a thought on Star coach Jason Webb’s mind.

Enduring pain on his back in the last eight minutes of the game, Othyus Jeffers matched his personal PBA-best of 38 points and also snared 20 rebounds as the Gin Kings made the winning column in the mid-season tourney following back-to-back losses to NLEX and Globalport.

“It’s a relief. It’s a must-win basically as we can’t fall behind 0-3. We need to win this game to get our confidence back,” said Cone.

“We have to figure out to win. Hat’s off to our guys, they pulled off this one,” Cone also said.

Denzel Bowles went on a dunking spree to spike a 28-point game while gunners Allein Maliksi, James Yap, Mark Barroca, PJ Simon and Justin Melton combined for a hot 12-of-18 three-point shooting as the Hotshots scored a first win since also beating the Elite in their Philippine Cup matchup last Dec. 18.

After a 0-3 start in the tourney, the Hotshots finally hit their strides and stopped the Elite on their tracks following a franchise breakthrough of back-to-back wins over the Mahindra Enforcers and the Alaska Milk Aces. Blackwater dropped to 2-2.

“We’re relieved we finally got one,” said Webb.

“It took a while but the team finally played really well. We’re dead last in assists with only 15 a game, but in the first half in this game, we already had 16. The ball movement was very good. On the defensive end, we gave up only 41 in the first half. Just everything clicked,” Webb pointed out.

“We have very good players in our team. It’s a matter of finding that moment when everything clicks together,” he added.

The Hotshots worked on all cylinders versus the Elite thus making it 4-0 in their head-on duels.

It had been a while since the Hotshots played with great precision.

“One thing we talked about was to bring back trust. When one puts in defensive help to cover for a spot, that’s trust. When you move the ball around, finding an open teammate, that’s trust,” said Webb.

Last conference, the Kings and the Hotshots split two matches. Star prevailed in the elims, then Ginebra won the bigger match during the first stage of the two-phase quarterfinals.

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