NLEX will have thorough and calculated adjustments in its game plan when it takes on Meralco in the best-of-three Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup quarterfinals series starting Friday.

Road Warriors head coach Frankie Lim braces for a tough showdown against a very different Bolts from the team they beat in the elimination round.

Both teams finished the elimination round sporting identical 6-5 win-loss cards they also share with TNT Tropang Giga, Magnolia and Rain or Shine. Meralco took the third seed after ending up with a superior quotient while NLEX slid to sixth spot avoiding going down to a twice-to-win disadvantage.

Although the Road Warriors managed to shut down the Bolts, 99-96, last 6 March in their elimination meeting to start a four-game win streak, Lim sees Meralco playing in a different level.

‘We have a lot to think about Meralco especially after their win against San Miguel.’

The Bolts are coming into the series beaming with confidence after humbling erstwhile unbeaten and quarters top seed defending champion San Miguel Beer, 95-92, last Saturday in Batangas.

“We have a lot to think about Meralco especially after their win against San Miguel,” Lim said.

“It seems they’re playing differently, even their bigs like (Raymond) Almazan and (Brandon) Bates. The last time we played them, they didn’t have Bates, so I think that’s a big factor.”

Bates was activated last 20 April to fill the spot of injured Reymar Jose. He is averaging 5.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game while providing support for Almazan whop puts up norms of 9.3 markers and 6.1 boards each outing.

“Right now, they have bigs that we need to keep an eye on. We’ll make our plans for Friday. We have a couple of days to think about it and make plans for Meralco,” Lim added.

Meralco has won three straight games while NLEX just arrested a four-game slide at the expense of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 76-72, last Sunday to formalize its playoffs entry.

“Meralco will be a big challenge for us. I think Meralco took down most of the powerhouse teams Magnolia, Ginebra and San Miguel. This is a very good team. A defensive team and a complete team,” Road Warriors main scorer Robert Bolick said.

Bolick, who is averaging a conference-leading 27.4 points per game, also adds that although the Bolts lost Aaron Black to a knee injury, NLEX will still have to contend with the other Meralco gunners like Chris Newsome, Enoch Valdez, Chris Hodge and Tony Semerad.