Kings wary of Bolts fightback

Games today:

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)

5 p.m. — Converge vs San Miguel

7:30 p.m. — Ginebra vs Meralco

Barangay Ginebra will be extra cautious when it battles Meralco in Game 2 of their Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup best-of-five quarterfinal series today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Game time is at 7:30 p.m. with Kings coach Tim Cone wary, knowing that the dangerous Bolts are capable of mounting a huge comeback that would completely change the complexion of the series.

The noted American mentor wants his men to be on their toes to take the pivotal win for a commanding 2-0 lead that would greatly demoralize Meralco and jack up their confidence as they head to the crucial stretch of the playoffs.

In Game 1, the Kings banked on a familiar face as import Justin Brownlee came to the rescue after hitting clutch baskets in the fourth quarter to help them pull off a 99-92 victory.

But taking Game 2 is a whole new challenge.

“It’s better to be leading than behind so we’re happy to get Game 1 and get ahead. But we also know that it’s not really that big of the deal unless you could follow that in Game 2,” Cone said.

Winning the series opener wasn’t easy after Meralco behind Allen Durham made a run to erase a 15-point deficit halfway in the third quarter and even wrested control early in the fourth.

Brownlee took over for Ginebra in the payoff period scoring 10 in the 22-14 closeout to secure the win.

Cone expects a stronger charge by Meralco to level the series.

The PBA’s winningest coach knows the Bolts are capable of turning the tables around just like what they did in last season’s Philippine Cup semifinals. Ginebra was already ahead, 3-2, only to get beaten by Meralco in the next two games on its way to eventually annexing its first-ever league crown.

“Hopefully, we learned from that. We know any kind of lead we have in a series is not gonna matter much. Any kind of lead in a game is not gonna matter much,” Cone said.

Meanwhile, San Miguel Beer eyes a 2-0 series lead against Converge in the 5 p.m. curtain-raiser.

The Beermen took the opener, 102-95, last Thursday with new import EJ Anosike debuting with a bang with 28 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

San Miguel shook off the FiberXers in the second half as it led by as many as 16 with the Beermen’s local crew led by June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez and Kris Rosales outworking their counterparts.

Converge’s Jalen Jones, Justin Arana, Schonny Winston and Alec Stockton, who was limited to just five points last game, will need to get their acts together to avoid going down a 0-2 hole.