Phoenix and NLEX will look to stay unbeaten when they take on teams raring to get their first win after stumbling in their previous outings as the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup continues this Sunday at the Ynares Center II.
Both the Fuel Masters and the Road Warriors began their respective campaigns in the midseason conference by hacking out dramatic victories against the Magnolia Hotshots and the Blackwater Bossing, respectively, just last Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
And they would definitely want to keep it going, with the two of them set to headline Sunday’s games to be held in Montalban for the second straight night.
According to sportsbook CasinoPlus, Phoenix enters its matchup as a heavy favorite, with Titan Ultra listed as a +11.5 underdog. The over-under for the contest is pegged at 205.5 points, with bets available through the sportsbook’s platform.
Phoenix will open the twin-bill offering at 5:15 p.m. against Titan Ultra, hoping to give new chief mentor Charles Tiu another W under his belt as they are coming in with sky-high confidence following a 101-98 stunner of the Hotshots.
The concurrent College of Saint Benilde Blazers strategist himself felt relieved that he got his first win right in his PBA head coaching debut, although he was much happier to witness his charges commence their campaign with a victory.
“We definitely wanted to make a bang,” he said. “Obviously, Phoenix isn’t a team that’s talked about by a lot of people; we’re kind of under the radar.”
“So sabi namin, we may catch teams off-guard if they overlook us, so we just wanted to compete,” the 37-year-old bench tactician added.
But after pulling off that narrow win against Coach LA Tenorio and Magnolia, no one is surely overlooking this team — and that includes the Giant Risers, who are bent on bouncing back after getting blown out by the Terrafirma Dyip, 112-82.
Like Phoenix, the new franchise has also undergone major changes after its first conference in the league, and the present-day batch would want to give new head coach Rensy Bajar his first win after losing badly to the Dyip.
It will be interesting to see how Titan Ultra adjusts after that sour opener, especially after Michael Gilmore and Joshua Munzon proved to be their only sources of offense as the two combined for 65 of their total points.
Needless to say, they will need more production from the rest of the roster — something the Fuel Masters displayed in their last outing, where six players finished in double figures, led by import James Dickey III with 20 points and 26 rebounds.
Set to battle in the 7:30 p.m. nightcap are NLEX and Magnolia in a meeting between teams that have clashed in the playoffs a few times.
According to CasinoPlus, the Hotshots are slight favorites in the matchup, listed at -3.5 against NLEX, while the over-under is set at 190.5 points. Bets can be placed on the platform as well.
Much of the focus will be on Robert Bolick and the Road Warriors, especially after pulling off a come-from-behind win against Blackwater in which they rallied from as much as 16 points down before the major fourth-quarter reversal.
However, at this point in the tournament, NLEX is still developing the best chemistry it can, given the personnel changes, including the departure of Jonnel Policarpio and the acquisition of the Deschon Winston and Kevin Racal tandem from the Converge FiberXers via trade.
“Everybody will go through this phase naman; in the first games, medyo kapaan, unless hindi ka nagpalit ng personnel,” said head coach Jong Uichico. “We changed personnel, so we’re still looking for the right combination or chemistry.”
It is actually the same case with the Hotshots, who, after spending some time with Terrell Brown-Soares, decided to switch imports when Nuni Omot became available after the Lebanese Basketball Championship got suspended.
Omot reportedly arrived just 48 hours before Friday’s game and had only one practice with his new team, yet still delivered 27 points on 11-of-23 shooting along with six rebounds, three assists, and a steal.
That makes their bout practically a race to see which team can polish its cohesion faster, given the quick turnaround from their previous matches.
