SAN MIGUEL Beer and Mahindra clash for the solo lead in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. The Beermen and the Enforces, tied at No. 1 with identical 2-0 win-loss records along with Tropang TNT, collide in the opening game at 4:15 p.m. to be followed by the tussle between NLEX and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel at 7 p.m.
Mahindra is the unlikely coleader of the tournament and is enjoying its impressive start under rookie interim coach Chris Gavina, whose Enforcers are coming off a 108-98 victory over talented but underachieving GlobalPort.
“I want to deflect all the effort to my guys. The coaching staff is instrumental in the development of our team,” said Gavina, who replaced Chito Victolero at the helm. “Our culture is to stay humble, hungry and be consistent in what we do.”
Gavina and his wards will be put to their biggest test so far against defending champion San Miguel, which is coming off a 94-93 squeaker over the NLEX Road Warriors on Marcio Lassiter’s game-winning three-pointer.
Mahindra import James White will also be tested by the Beermen’s veteran reinforcement, AZ Reid. But Arwind Santos, Chris Lutz and Gabby Espinas are still recuperating from injuries and are not playing on Wednesday night.
The Enforcers are drawing consistent games from the locals, particularly Aldrech Ramos, LA Revilla, Paolo Taha and Nino Cañaleta.
Minus their key locals, Austria needs another strong showing from Reid, Lassiter, reigning Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo and Alex Cabagnot in the match of unbeaten teams. NLEX and Ginebra, meanwhile, try to bounce back from disappointing defeats as they eye their second win in three games.
The Kings are coming off a 91-100 overtime loss to Alaska, where new import Justin Brownlee failed to finish the match due to cramps.
The Road Warriors drew another solid offensive game from Bill Walker (33 points) against San Miguel but Jonas Villanueva was the only local player to hit double figures in their tough loss to the Beermen.