MERALCO looked unbeatable with its first five victories in the elimination round of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup.
But the second half of the elimination phase proved to be nightmarish for the Bolts as they dropped five matches to settle for a spot in the best-of-three quarterfinal series.
Now, Meralco Head Coach Norman Black is hoping their string of bad luck has ended as they try to revive their hot start against sister team NLEX in the opener of the quarterfinal round on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Meralco faces the Road Warriors at 4:15 p.m. to be followed by the first game of the quarterfinal series between Purefoods and Alaska at 7 p.m.
“If we are able to break our slump, this is the best time to do it because the semfinals berth is on the line,” said Black whose team finished fifth after the 11-game elimination phase.
“NLEX will be tough to hurdle. They have the size with Asi [Taulava] and they have an explosive import in [Al] Thornton. They surround those guys with shooters so they are a well-balanced team,” Black added.
The injury of Josh Davis in their game against San Miguel badly hurt the Bolts as they lost five of their last six games, including a 72-84 setback to last-placed Blackwater on Wednesday.
The Road Warriors are also coming off an 85-91 defeat to Barako Bull but the wards of Head Coach Boyet Fernandez have won five in a row prior to that loss, giving them some momentum in Game One of their quarterfinal series.
In fact, NLEX’s 89-76 win over Meralco last February 27 was part of that five-game winning streak that revived their campaign in the tournament.
But Fernandez knows that this is a different battle and they need to be prepared for a strong performance from the Bolts.
“It is really important to get Game One because it is only a best-of-three series. Winning Game One will also dictate the tempo of the series,” Fernandez said.
NLEX and Meralco both finished the elimination round with identical 6-5 slates.
Meanwhile, defending champion Hotshots shoot for a 1-0 series lead against the Aces, who are coming off an emotional 104-98 victory over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel to clinch the No. 6 seat in the next round and face the third seed Purefoods.
“I appreciate our guys’ defensive commitment. We’re just grateful that we made the playoffs. It’s really been a tough conference for us,” Alaska mentor Alex Compton said.
The Hotshots beat the Aces in their lone meeting last February 3, 108-88, where both teams fielded different imports. Marqus Blakely suited up for the Hotshots in that match while DJ Covington reinforced Alaska.
Puregoods finished No. 3 with 8-3 mark, same with the top two teams Rain or Shine and Talk ‘N Text but was relegated to the best-of-three series due to an inferior quotient.