Platinum Karaoke showed the importance of familiarity as it swept all its games in Day 1 of the PBA 3×3 inaugurals’ sixth leg, Monday at SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The trio of Chris De Chavez, Karl Dehesa, and JR Alabanza welcomed back big man Yutien Andrada from an ankle injury back in the second stop, reuniting the original cast that made up the guest team at the start of the tournament.
And the very same quartet that finished as runners-up in Leg 2 aced their tests. They earned their first win against fifth leg champions Limitless App, 16-11.
Platinum then followed it up with a 21-12 blowout of fellow guest club Pioneer ProTibay behind the combined 17 points of Alabanza and De Chavez.
The veteran-laden squad is now sitting atop Pool A with a clean 3-0 slate. The other win came from the forfeited games of the injury-riddled Zamboanga, giving all the other teams in the group easy victories as well.
Joining Platinum in the knockout quarterfinals are the Appmasters, who finished the day with a 3-1 record. They will be coming into the playoffs on Tuesday well-rested since they no longer have to play the Valientes.
At third in the pool is Pioneer (2-2), followed by CAVITEX (1-2). The Pro Tibay are virtually assured of a spot in the next round even if the Braves beat the pool leaders tomorrow, since they’ve beaten the latter earlier, 21-16.
Meanwhile, San Miguel emerged as the leader of Pool B in a wild group that saw perennial contenders drop to the bottom of the standings.
The Beermen registered wins over Leg 4 champs Purefoods (22-16) and NorthPort (21-16) for a 2-0 record. Jeff Manday starred on both occasions as he produced 13 points in each of their victories.
The Batang Pier are at second in the pool after splitting their assignments. Before bowing to SMB, the squad scored a huge upset against maiden leg rulers TNT by way of a 21-15 victory. Jeepy Faundo top-scored with nine.
Sitting at third are the Tropang Giga with a similar 1-1 card. Their lone win came at the expense of the Tender Juicy Titans through a dominant 21-8 result, sending their corporate rivals dead last with a 0-2 record.
Pool C, lastly, is being led by Meralco, who ended its Day 1 campaign with a 2-0 record after downing Ginebra (21-11) and Terrafirma (21-18).
The Bolts hardly showed any struggle in terms of dynamics despite bringing in new faces Maclean Sabellina and RJ Deles, who took the places of regulars Tonino Gonzaga and Joseph Sedurifa as the two are nursing injuries.
Sabellina, in fact, made his presence felt especially against the Gin Kings with eight points as his 3×3 pedigree came into play.
The Dyip are second with a 1-1 slate, followed by the Barangay (1-1). Both squads got their wins from Sista, who’s last at 0-2.
Day 2 of Leg 6 is on Tuesday, with hostilities kicking off at 2:00 p.m. to resume pool play. The knockout rounds will begin at 4:35 p.m.
