Games today:
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
5 p.m. — TNT vs NorthPort
7:30 p.m. — NLEX vs Ginebra
NLEX head coach Jong Uichico wants his men to handle the things they have control over as the squad attempts to punch a ticket into the playoffs of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup.
He expects the Road Warriors to be laser-focused in their battle against quarterfinals-bound Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Sporting a 4-5 win-loss record, NLEX is in a good position in the chase for the last seat in the next round.
Uichico’s squad will complete the quarters cast in Group B if it scores a win over the Gin King in their 7:30 p.m. showdown and Blackwater (3-5) falls victim to San Miguel Beer in their own clash taking place as of press time.
NLEX is coming into its last elimination round assignment carrying the momentum of its 104-79 drubbing of also-ran Phoenix last Friday which halted a four-game skid.
“I don’t think we have much adjustments to do for one day of preparation. I think we’ll just carry over what we did today. Hopefully, we come up with a win again on Sunday,” Uichico said
Although the mentor is aware that the win over the Fuel Masters has put pressure on the Bossing, he doesn’t want to take any chances especially that Blackwater is capable of sweeping its remaining assignments.
In fact, the pressure of winning will be on the Road Warriors in case the Bossing end up toppling the Beermen.
“Yes, it puts pressure on Blackwater but we all know that they are a capable team with the lineup that they have. They have a good team and are capable of winning their last two games,” Uichico said.
“We can’t discount the fact that they have a shot at getting into the quarterfinals if they win both games. So, for us, we did our job (against Phoenix) but we’ll also try to do our job also on Sunday.”
Only the top four teams in each group will advance to the crossover best-of-five quarters.
Rain or Shine, San Miguel and Ginebra are all through to the next round in Group B. The Group A cast is already complete with defending champion TNT, Meralco, Magnolia and Converge.
In a scenario where NLEX and Blackwater end up tied at the end of the elims, the Road Warriors will advance due to a better quotient or a +6-point differential. The two teams split their elims head-to-head with NLEX taking a 104-87 win in the first round while the Bossing winning the rematch, 110-99.
Blackwater will wrap its elims campaign on Monday against the Elasto Painters.
The Gin Kings, on the other hand, are just jockeying for position in the quarters seeding and are hoping to build momentum heading into the playoffs.
Ginebra beat Phoenix, 112-96, last Wednesday to get back on the winning track following a 49-point beating from San Miguel for a 6-3 record.
Meanwhile, the Tropang Giga battle eliminated NorthPort at 5 p.m.
TNT is already locked as top seed in Group A with a 7-2 card but will still shoot to regain its bearing after suffering a 72-84 upset loss to also-ran Terrafirma last Thursday.