Game Today
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7 p.m. – Ginebra vs Meralco
With the enemy’s backs pushed so hard to the wall, a Barangay Ginebra side that has momentum in the PBA Governors’ Cup title series tries to more or less put Meralco away when Game 3 gets off the ground Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
After winning the first two games in contrasting styles, the Gin Kings take the floor at 7 p.m. looking to put the death knell on the hard-fighting Bolts and move closer to becoming just the fourth team to retain the season-ending championship.
“We still have a lot of work to do. We won two straight games and it only shows that they (Bolts) can also win two straight and tie this thing up,” Ginebra coach Tim Cone said.
Both teams will be coming off well-deserved breaks, and this is the reason why he feels that the Bolts will still have a lot of fight left in them.
“They still have a lot of punches to throw at us,” Cone said. “I think that extra day is valuable for the teams. They (Bolts) got the chance to refresh and come out and play a lot better and a lot harder.”
Meralco actually played a lot better and as hard as it could in Game 2, leading by six going into the final six minutes before sputtering with just a free throw to show the rest of the way.
Coach Norman Black has been pleased with the effort, but falling 0-2 behind against such a formidable opponent certainly puts them in a very uncomfortable place as the Bolts face a one-miss-you-die situation from hereon.
There have only been six of 36 teams that have fallen 0-2 behind in a title series to ever turn things around, and Black didn’t sound all too pleased at the situation facing him and his Bolts.