Converge battles unpredictable Blackwater

Converge battles unpredictable Blackwater | Daily Tribune

Games today:

(Ynares Center)

5 p.m. — Converge vs Blackwater

7:30 p.m. — Phoenix vs NLEX

Quarterfinals-bound Converge seeks to boost its chances of securing a twice-to-beat advantage in the next round when it takes on also-ran Blackwater in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup today at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

Fashioning a 7-3 win-loss record in a three-way logjam at second place with NorthPort and Hong Kong Eastern, the FiberXers are on the right track in the race for the top two seeding and the playoffs incentive.

That’s why Converge is not taking the nothing-to-lose Bossing lightly in their 5 p.m. collision.

“It’s our goal to get into the playoffs and hopefully, if given a chance, get into the Top 2. But then again, a lot of things could happen,” FiberXers acting coach Franco Atienza said.

Although Converge is in a good position with just two weeks left before the end of eliminations, Atienza warns his players of complacency.

“It’s hard to predict (our position) because other teams still have a lot of games to play,” the mentor said.

“We will just control the things that we have control of. But we’ll take the momentum heading into the playoffs. We’ve already reached the first round (of the playoffs) before. Hopefully, we’ll advance beyond the first round,” Atienza added.

The FiberXers are coming off a four-day rest after beating Rain or Shine, 103-96, last Tuesday.

Import Chieck Diallo is raring to rebound from an eight-point outing for Converge the last time out. Diallo will lean on Alec Stockton, Jordan Heading, Justin Arana, Kevin Racal and rookie Justine Baltazar for support.

Blackwater, on the other hand, is looking for a followup to its 96-86 win over Terrafirma to hike its 2-7 card.

Meanwhile, Phoenix and NLEX meet in a virtual do-or-die match at 7:30 p.m.

The Fuel Masters and Road Warriors are tied at 10th to 11th place in the standings with identical 3-6 slates.

Another loss from either team will knock it out of the playoffs contention.

Phoenix suffered a 104-110 loss to Magnolia last Thursday while the Road Warriors were defeated by TNT, 87-94, last Wednesday for their fifth loss in a row.