It’s all or nothing for TNT and its hopes of defending the PBA Commissioner’s Cup kingship as it locks horns with the top-seeded NLEX in the quarterfinals’ opening salvo at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium later this evening.
Game time is set at 5:15 p.m. in the very first matchup of the playoffs’ opening round, with all the attention drawn to no less than the reigning champions if they can stay alive for at least one more game in the conference.
As is known, the midseason joust has offered little promise for the Tropang 5G, as they have yet to figure things out in terms of integrating Bol Bol’s style of play with the local talent and their overall system.
They hardly got into a seamless flow during the eliminations, and things turned from bad to worse when they lost three consecutive games to finish the said round–capped by a 93-86 defeat to Barangay Ginebra just last Sunday.
Such a form has inevitably sparked questions regarding their ability to go back-to-back, with their upcoming foes in the Road Warriors coming in with so much to prove and wanting, of course, to maximize their win-once incentive.
But Kings head coach Tim Cone thinks otherwise, saying that their long-time rivals may have forged the ideal pairing for themselves in the quarters.
“From Coach Chot’s eyes… I don’t pretend to know what he thinks, but I think they played a good game; they wanted to play a good game; I don’t think it was a big deal that they lost,” the champion mentor opined after their bout.
“I think they probably got the matchup that they like against NLEX, and so that’s gonna be a really interesting series, I think,” he continued. “Talk N Text can turn it around in a heartbeat and find themselves in the Finals easily.”
In all fairness, TNT was one of only two teams to defeat NLEX during the eliminations, with a 103-97 result on March 22 in Antipolo. This saw Bol trigger a late rally and finish with 40 points and 15 rebounds.
So, the Tropa have the advantage in that regard, and are crossing their fingers as well that history repeats itself over at the Road Warriors’ side.
Their sister team had once failed to capitalize on a twice-to-beat advantage, particularly during the 2019 Governors’ Cup, where they were beaten twice by Christian Standhardinger and the eighth-seeded NorthPort in the quarters.
The Batang Pier would go on to reach the semis with the Fil-German forward eventually taking home BPC honors, stealing all the glory away from an NLEX team that was then–and still is–looking for just its third Final Four appearance.
Years later, and the franchise, now being mentored by Jong Uichico with Robert Bolick in a starring role, has a shot at exorcising the ghost of the past.
Still, the Casino Plus sportsbook sees the Road Warriors as a +5.5 underdog in the first game of the quarterfinals. The over/under is set at 198.0.
Wagers can be placed here: https://www.casinoplus.com.ph/home/inGame?name=basketball&title=SportBet.
Meanwhile, duking it out in the 7:30 p.m. main event would be the twice-to-beat Meralco and Magnolia in a clash between the fourth and fifth seeds.
The Bolts’ focus is surely on trying to advance as quickly as they can for some extra prep time and recovery, but they know that it won’t be an easy task, given that they’re squaring up against the same team that beat them just last Sunday.
Coach Luigi Trillo and his charges were aiming to finish the eliminations with four straight wins, but the LA Tenorio-led Hotshots caught them on a bad night and pulled away for a 93-76 victory to gain momentum heading into the playoffs.
Magnolia is headed to the next phase, buoyed by a three-game winning streak and keen on repeating its performance to push the series to a rubber match on Saturday.
“Alam nyo, kahit sino talaga makalaban mo sa taas, I mean, they’re in the Top Four for a reason. Basta maging ready lang kami,” offered Tenorio. “If it is Meralco, then we have to beat them three times, basically–nakaisa na kami.”
The Bolts are a -2.5 favorite, according to Casino Plus sportsbook. The game’s over/under is set at 192.0.
