San Miguel Beer guard Jericho Cruz, left, fights for the ball against Rain or Shine’s Adrian Nocum during Game 2 of the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals.–PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—On Sunday, San Miguel Beer moved two wins away from another trip to the PBA Philippine Cup Finals.
But while being that close to making the championship round is enough reason to feel excited, the Beermen see it differently.
“As of now, two wins are nothing,” said coach Jorge Gallent after the Beermen’s 106-89 win over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in Game 2 of their best-of-seven semifinal series on Sunday.
“We have to get four. There’s nothing to celebrate unless we get number four but this will be our third step. First step was the eliminations, second was the quarterfinals, this is the third step and it’s not over. We need to have four to finish this step.”
READ: PBA: June Mar Fajardo too much for Rain or Shine in Game 2
The final tally in Game 2 may indicate a blowout but San Miguel’s victory wasn’t as easy as it seemed on paper.
The Beermen needed their seven-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo to play one of the best quarters of his career in the third period to really pull away from the Painters in Game 2.
In Game 1, San Miguel was fortunate enough to escape Rain or Shine down the stretch for a 101-98 victory.
That’s why the Beermen know they can’t afford to get comfortable against the Painters.
“It’s zero-zero. We can’t think that we’re up. We need to be better in Game 3,” said San Miguel guard Terrence Romeo after tallying 16 points, five rebounds and five assists.
READ: PBA: June Mar Fajardo powers San Miguel to 2-0 lead vs Rain or Shine
“It actually gets harder as you try to end a series so we need to be more focused and I’m sure Rain or Shine will come back stronger so we need to be ready,” he added.
Jericho Cruz, who contributed nine points and three rebounds in the win, had the same sentiments as his fellow guard.
“Our mindset is to win every game… This will be the hardest, to know how to close it out but we’ll take one game at a time. Hopefully, we get the next two games but it won’t be easy because this is a series. Lots of adjustments will take place so we’ll go back to the drawing board tomorrow, we’ll see our lapses, fix them so Come game 3, we’ll be ready.”
The Beermen shoot for a commanding 3-0 lead on Wednesday at Dasmariñas Arena in Cavite.