Games today:
(Rizal Memorial Coliseum)
3 p.m. — Terrafirma vs San Miguel Beer
6:15 p.m. — Magnolia vs Ginebra
Meralco chained NLEX’s streaky scorer Robert Bolick in the endgame to essay a 97-93 escape in Game 1 of the best-of-three Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup quarterfinals series Friday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Bolts came back from a 12-point first-half deficit and survived Bolick’s new career-high 48 points to move closer to a semifinals seat.
Game 2 is on Sunday at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Cliff Hodge made a crucial defensive stop on Bolick with Meralco protecting a 95-93 lead, forcing the Best Player of the Conference frontrunner to pass the ball after getting trapped in the left corner to Richie Rodger who lost the ball out of bounds in the last 13.1 seconds.
Allein Maliksi sealed the win with two charities in the last 9.5 ticks.
“We just got a little bit better with our intensity, attention to detail probably in that second half, but were not used to doing what we played in the first half,” Meralco coach Luigi Trillo said.
“If we’re gonna play like that again we’re not gonna pass and get into the semifinals. We still need to improve a lot. We weren’t satisfied with it. Obviously, we needed to call out a couple of people in the dugout for that.”
Maliksi finished with 22 points to lead five other Bolts in double figures. Raymond Almazan had 15 points and six rebounds, Anjo Caram came off the bench to deliver 14 points, Chris Banchero and Chris Newsome had 12 each while Bong Quinto had 11.
NLEX was in full control of the first half with Bolick going lights out, scoring 20 of his 28 points in the first two quarters.
Bolick erased his previous career-best 46 points he set last March in a win over Converge in the elims with a 12-of-25 field goal shooting and added five assists and four rebounds.
Michael Miranda was the only other NLEX player in double-figures with 14.
Meanwhile, top seed and twice-to-beat defending champion Sam Miguel Beer shoots for a semis seat when it takes on Terrafirma today at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Game time is at 3 p.m. to be followed by the Manila Classico encounter between No. 2 seed and playoffs bonus holder Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Magnolia at 6:15 p.m.
The Beermen easily secured a playoffs spot after winning their first 10 games. But San Miguel fell short of completing the league’s first elims sweep in 10 years after suffering a 92-95 loss to Meralco last week in Batangas.
Terrafirma, on the other hand, wants to make the most of its first quarterfinal round stint since the 2016 Governors’ Cup. The Dyip beat NorthPort, 104-96, in the sudden death for the last bus ride to the playoffs last Wednesday.
“We’re going through the proverbial eye of the needle. But we’ll do our best to get one. Who knows? In God’s will,” Terrafirma coach Johnedel Cardel.
The Gin Kings, meanwhile, seek a repeat of their 87-77 victory in their elims meeting in their first crack at the semis berth.
