KJ McDaniels will be on the spotlight when TNT battles Phoenix Pulse. ROMAN PROSPERO

All eyes will be on prolific import KJ McDaniels as TNT shoots for a share of lead against Phoenix Pulse in the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The KaTropa are currently tied with San Miguel Beer for the No. 2 spot with a 2-0 win-loss mark and a win over the Fuel Masters in their 7 p.m. encounter will put them on top tied with NLEX at 3-0.

In the first game, NorthPort and Columbian Dyip, two teams that swapped players during the break, face off at 4:30 in the afternoon.

McDaniels, the second-round pick of the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2014 NBA Rookie Draft, has been drawing a lot of attention after powering the KaTropa to a strong start as he provided all-around games including in their 103-91 win over Rain or Shine where he tallied with 37 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and five blocks.

“We have to win as many as we can. Our games are our going to be a lot harder, so we just have to keep on improving,” KaTropa head coach Bong Ravena said.

“We will continue to get better. We will continue to play harder and smarter. We will continue to respect all our opponents,” he added.

TNT is cautious of Phoenix, which is coming off a 103-101 win on Matthew Wright’s marginal basket over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to snap a two-game slide.

The Fuel Masters managed to eke out a victory despite the ejection of head coach Louie Alas, who incurred two technical fouls in the game.

“Give credit to my guys, they really wanted to win. We didn’t have any timeout left in the last play. We just put our best defenders in to stop them, we just had to play our best honest defense,” said Alas on the team’s end-game pose against the Gin Kings.

“This will be a hard game for us. They’re the No. 1 offensive team, they shoot 52 percent from the three-point line. We need to bring our A-defensive game. We need to contain KJ, Jayson (Castro), RR (Pogoy) and Troy (Rosario),” he added.

Eugene Phelps holds the biggest task of containing McDaniels and Alas hopes the locals could help in containing the explosive ex-NBA veteran.

In the opener, Batang Pier and Dyip, both holding identical 1-1 records, try to bounce back from a loss as they seek their second win in three games.

NorthPort lost to Magnolia, 80-96, while Columbian Dyip dropped a 90-96 decision to Rain or Shine in their respective previous matches.

Both teams exchanged guards during the break with Batang Pier sending Juami Tiongson to Dyip for Jeremy King.

Meanwhile, the Elasto Painters will parade a new import in Kayel Locke according to co-team owner Raymund Yu.

The 25-year old Locke will replace Joel Wright, who managed to give Rain or Shine a single win in three games.