Import-less NLEX hot on quarterfinal berth
ROBERT Bolick will have to work double time as import DeQuan Jones will not be around when NLEX faces Converge in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup on Friday.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF PBA
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ROBERT Bolick will have to work double time as import DeQuan Jones will not be around when NLEX faces Converge in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup on Friday.
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF PBA
Games today:
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
5:15 p.m. — Converge vs NLEX
7:30 p.m. — Meralco vs Ginebra
NLEX looks to formalize its quarterfinals entry sans an import when it takes on Converge in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Governors’ Cup today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Game time is set at 5:15 p.m., before the 7:30 main game pitting Meralco and Barangay Ginebra in a match that weighs heavily on their playoffs bids.
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The Road Warriors remain on top of the Group A standings with a 7-1 win-loss record but face a tough challenge to collar a second straight victory without their workhorse reinforcement DeQuan Jones.
Jones, who averaged 24.8 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, sustained a horrific right leg fracture with 7:27 left in the third quarter of NLEX’s 118-111 overtime win over defending champion TNT last Tuesday.
He got hurt after an awkward landing while attacking the basket. Tropang 5G big man Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser then landed on Jones’ leg in the ensuing play.
Jones suffered a broken right leg fibula, dislocated ankle and fractured ankle bone. His ankle was put back into place on Wednesday morning but will need to wait for the swelling to subside before undergoing surgery.
“We’ll ty to figure out what we can do. The next game I’m in is Friday, so we’ll do the best we can,” NLEX head coach Jimmy Alapag said.
Alapag reportedly nixed the idea of getting an immediate replacement as the Road Warriors are expected to go all-Filipino in the final playdate before the league goes on a break to give way to Gilas Pilipinas’ participation in the 2027 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers fourth window and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
The first-year coach will rely on the leadership of Robert Bolick, who saved NLEX from a second straight loss with back-to-back four-pointers that forced an extension last game, to steady the ship without Jones.
Converge can pounce on the Road Warriors having a man down to move up the standings and improve its 4-4 card, which it currently shares with TNT.
Replacement import Cameron Clark debuted with a bang and saved the FiberXers from a four-game skid.
Clark finished with 22 points as Converge dominated Terrafirma, 120-103, last Tuesday.
The FiberXers, who will also bank on locals Justin Arana, Justin Baltazar, Calvin Abueva and Juan Gomez de Liaño, eye to avenge a 107-119 loss to the Road Warriors in their first meeting on 1 August.
“We’ll take it one game at a time. We’ll focus on NLEX. We really need to bounce back. We really need to get back at NLEX. It’s a very important game for us,” Converge head coach Delta Pineda said.
Meanwhile, the Kings and Bolts clash in a must-win game to keep their flickering quarters hopes alive.
Ginebra beat Meralco in their previous tiff, 84-75, on 31 July.
The Kings hold a 2-3 card in fifth spot while the Bolts carry a 2-5 mark at the bottom.
Both are outside the top four in Group B, sitting behind Rain or Shine (4-2), Magnolia (4-3), Phoenix (4-3) and Blackwater (3-3).
