LA Tenorio and Barangay Ginebra are looking to stretch their winning run.
Barangay Ginebra tries to extend its winning streak to four and move closer to a quarterfinals seat in the 2019 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup today at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City.
The Gin Kings face the skidding Blackwater in the main game at 7 p.m. while streaking NLEX faces Rain or Shine in the opener at 4:30 p.m.
Ginebra is currently at fourth spot with 4-2 win-loss mark and a win over the 2-6 Elite will put them in a good position for at least a top eight finish.
Still, Ginebra coach Tim Cone would rather clash with Blackwater with extreme caution, knowing that a massive setback could crush the momentum they built heading into titanic battles with Meralco and TNT KaTropa.
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“At this point mid the conference, this is a critical game for us, so it’s very important that we don’t look past Blackwater going into our next games against Meralco and TNT,” Cone said
“Blackwater has built its team around a lot of shooters, so we’re going to have to get out and extend on all of them. Plus, I know Marqus (Blakely) and how hard it is to defend all the things that he does. They will pose some very tough matchups for us.”
The Gin Kings are coming off a 98-89 win over the Elasto Painters behind another all-around performance from import Justin Brownlee, who had 39 points, 17 rebounds, eight assists and three steals.
Cone said if they want to go deep into in the tournament, the locals also need to step up, and against Rain or Shine, Art dela Cruz and even Prince Caperal provided quality minutes.
“We need to go deeper. We need to get a little deeper in the line up and get more production from the bench,” Cone said.
Blackwater enters the game with a three-game losing streak, the last one was a 91-101 defeat to Alaska with new acquisition Nino Cañaleta leading the way with 18 points.
A loss by the Elite will put them on the brink of elimination and head coach Aries Dimaunahan knows the importance of this game.
“We will be playing with our backs against the wall and game of survival. We have to be solid tomorrow on defense so it could fuel our offense,” Blackwater head coach Aris Dimaunahan said.
“We just have to put our best foot forward tomorrow as we battle for our lives.”
Meanwhile, the Road Warriors also eye some separation as they are currently running second with 6-1 behind TNT KaTropa (7-1), the team they inflicted its first loss of the tournament.
NLEX snapped KaTropa’s unbeaten start at six games with a masterful 126-113 conquest behind another explosive games from import Manny Harris and Kiefer Ravena.
Harris had 40 points, six rebounds, nine assists and seven steals while Ravena dished out a double-double performance of 16 points and 13 assists.
Like the Elite, Rain or Shine is also holding a 2-6 mark and needs the game very badly to get back in the hunt for a quarterfinal seat.
Rain or Shine will be bringing in a new reinforcement in Richard Ross to replace Kwame Alexander, who crashed with an ankle injury.
Ross would the Elasto Painters’ fourth import after Joel Wright, Kayel Locke and Alexander.