Beermen out to bolster bid for top two vs Elasto Painters
A win away from a guaranteed tie for second place, San Miguel Beer goes for it against closest pursuer Rain or Shine in a key match in the PBA Philippine Cup at the MOA Arena in Pasay City Friday night.
The Beermen and the Elasto Painters clash at 7 p.m., with both expected to come out with an all-out effort in trying to boost their respective twice-to-beat aspirations.
San Miguel, the reigning back-to-back all-Filipino conference titlist, is leading the chase for the Top Two with a 7-1 win-loss card while Rain or Shine is at second at 5-2, a full-game ahead of joint third placers Alaska Milk (4-3), GlobalPort (4-3) and TNT KaTropa (4-3).
Rain or Shine’s immediate goal is to seal its quarters entry as San Miguel has achieved.
The E-Painters are convinced they have to play topnotch basketball as they did in their last game against the Phoenix Fuel Masters to have a chance against June Mar Fajardo and his teammates who’ve been on a hot
six-game romp.
“We’re playing the hottest team in the league right now. It’s gonna be a big test on our part on how to be consistent on both offense and defense,” said ROS coach Caloy Garcia.
Garcia’s troops pushed themselves hard all throughout and pulled off a 97-82 rout of the Fuel Masters Sunday even minus key players Raymond Almazan and Gabe Norwood who were then out with their respective
health woes.
Against the Beermen, Garcia said they would need all the firepower they could get, so he’s hoping Almazan and Norwood would be ready to return to action.
Almazan has missed their last two outings due to calf muscle injury. Norwood was out the last time due to sore eyes.
San Miguel has been in the groove, pulling away from the pack with six straight wins over Alaska, Mahindra, NLEX, Meralco, Blackwater and Barangay Ginebra.
Pushed to the limit by the Kings in a defensive battle, the Beermen hung on and squeezed out a 72-70 win to close in on a Top Two finish.
SMB coach Leo Austria feels just one more win would hand them the twice-to-beat advantage.
Eight wins was the magic number for the Top Two in both the Commissioner’s Cup and the Governors Cup last season.
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