Veteran players Dondon Hontiveros (left) and Jimmy Alapag will try to give the needed leadership when the Alaska Aces and Meralco Bolts collide in a do-or-die game tonight for the second finals berth of the 41st PBA Commissioner’s Cup. (PBA IMAGES)
Aces, Bolts collide
in do-or-die match
Game today
Smart Araneta Coliseum
7 p.m. – Alaska vs. Meralco
The Final Four series in the Oppo PBA Commissioner’s Cup has a handful of pundits predicting it would go deep plays in its decider today, as Meralco seeks the franchise’s first title series appearance and Alaska tries to avert a reversal and get a second crack at a championship this season.
Tip-off is at 7 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, with the Bolts having a lot of momentum going their way after shooting down the Aces, 86-70, on Monday night that necessitated the rubber match of this best-of-five series.
The winner advances to face Rain or Shine in the championship playoffs, with the Elasto Painters getting a couple of more days of rest after winning – in short work – the other half of the semifinals against the San Miguel Beermen pundits said was the one that was supposed to go the distance.
Alaska, even though it qualified to the playoffs as the third-ranked team, has the decided edge in manpower and playoff experience and was tipped as the overwhelming choice to easily go through the No. 2 Bolts.
The Aces split the first two games by narrow margins and played according to predictions by blowing Meralco off the floor in Game 3.
But Meralco had other things in mind and promptly returned the favor a game later, shackling the Aces with sustained intensity on both ends on Monday night to post the rousing win and put a dent on the psyche of Alaska.
Meralco has made heads turn all tournament long, leading the eliminations until the literal last day of the round when San Miguel Beer knocked the Bolts out of No. 1 because of the winner-over-the-other rule.
And the Bolts have one important thing going their way.
“We have to remain hungry,” coach Norman Black said after the Game 4 win. “Now that we’re here, we’ll try to win Game 5.”
Alaska was the losing finalist in the Philippine Cup to the Beermen and will be going into a KO match for the second straight series after being taken to a Game 3 before dethroning Tropang TNT in the quarterfinals.
“If we play this way and we play this way, they (Bolts) are going to the Finals,” Alaska coach Alex Compton, obviously disappointed at the way his Aces played Game 4, said. “Give them credit. That team reminds me of us when we are playing our best.”
Alaska has been on-and-off the whole tournament and must be able to recall the consistency it displayed in the last conference to weather this storm.
“We got to be a lot better,” Compton said when asked what they need to do in the KO match. “Hopefully, we show up a little bit more like we did in Game 3.”