Road Warriors gun for seventh heaven

Road Warriors gun for seventh heaven | Daily Tribune

Under the watch of first-year head coach Jimmy Alapag, the Road Warriors are playing on a different level after going undefeated in six matches to tighten their grip on the top spot in Group A. NLEX is the only unscathed team left in the season-ending conference.

The Road Warriors are looking to bring down the Dyip once again in their 5:15 p.m. rematch.

But this time, they want a more convincing victory after barely escaping in their first meeting, 101-100, last 12 July.

“It’s not easy to win six in a row in the PBA,” Alapag said.

“But, again, the credit goes to DeQuan (Jones) and the rest of our guys for continuing to weather whatever challenges we faced so far, this early in the conference. But at the same time, we understand there’s still so much work to be done,” added the former Sacramento Kings player development coach.

NLEX is fresh off an 88-83 win over defending champion TNT last Tuesday to close the opening salvo of the elimination round.

Jones blasted 27 points against the Tropang 5G in a win that further boosted the Road Warriors’ morale as they near a quarterfinals berth.

The workhorse NLEX import dropped 30 in his first clash with Terrafirma.

Despite being the favored side against a Dyip camp struggling to barge into the top four, Jones and the rest of the Road Warriors are keeping their guards up.

“The first talk we had with coach Jimmy (Alapag), he said we’re going to have a ‘next play’ mentality and we’re taking every game one at a time,” Jones said.

“We’re literally focused and homed in and put all of our energy into the next accomplishment because we know what we want to achieve and that’s brick by brick… and we know and understand that and we’re just taking it brick by brick.”

Terrafirma, on the other hand, eyes to improve its 2-4 slate and rebound from a 92-96 loss to guest team Macau last 29 July.

Justin Strings, Maverick Ahanmisi, Juami Tiongson and the rest of the Dyip will shoot to get the job done this time after a near upset against NLEX in the first round.

Terrafirma almost completed a comeback from 23 points down as the game came down to one single attempt by the Dyip.

Strings had the chance to win it but bricked his three-point attempt as time expired.

Meanwhile, Group B squads Magnolia and Meralco battle in the main game at 7:30 p.m. with their chances of staying in the race for the playoffs berth on the line.

The Hotshots hope to use the momentum of its Manila Clasico domination of Barangay Ginebra, 88-73, last Sunday to repeat over the Bolts.

Magnolia, which carries a 2-3 mark tied with the Kings, bested Meralco in their first-round pairing, 112-98, last 24 July.

After that loss, the Bolts also stumbled in their last two games over Barangay Ginebra (75-84) and Rain or Shine (83-85) that sent them to a 2-4 hole down the cellar.