INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines—A spate of hardcourt injuries and another from a recent car accident have taken a lot of sting out of Magnolia Purewater.

The Wizards hope to buck these setbacks, though, as they shoot for the last outright semifinal berth against Hapee Toothpaste at the resumption of the PBL PG Flex Linoleum Cup on Tuesday.

“We don’t want to put emphasis on the fact that we’re one win away [from the Final Four],” said Magnolia coach Koy Banal. “Things happen, so we never know. We’re just going to be ready.”

The Wizards, running second with a 7-2 record, will try to make do without key players Neil Pascual, Khasim Mirza, Jaypee Alcaraz and Jonathan Banal in their 2 p.m. match at the San Beda College gym in Manila.

Harbour Centre, which clinched the first semifinal slot, guns for its ninth win in 10 games versus Burger King at 4 p.m.

Pascual, the 6-foot-3 forward from Mapua Institute of Technology, sustained a bruised right arm when he figured in a three-vehicle mishap as he drove back to Manila from Pampanga last Friday.

“We got his X-ray results and good thing, nothing’s fractured,” said Banal.

Alcaraz, who averages 12.4 points and 3.1 assists for the Wizards, remains a doubtful starter due to a bruised shoulder.

Mirza, the reed-thin shooter from University of Santo Tomas, is also out for the rest of the season after fracturing his ankle.

And Banal’s 5-foot-10 son Jonathan is still recuperating from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury sustained last month.

Unlike the Wizards, the five-time champion Batang Pier have few worries after nailing the first semifinal bonus with a league-leading 8-1 elimination-round card two weeks ago.

But coach Jorge Gallent still expects his Batang Pier to have picked up some lessons from their blowout loss to the Singapore Slingers, 97-72, in an exhibition match on Sunday night in the island city state.

“We have to play smart,” said Gallent.