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TROPANG TNT hopes to get Jason Castro back in action Sunday for the Texters to be in full force as they open their best-of-three quarterfinal series with Alaska in the Oppo-PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Tip-off is at 3 p.m. at Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay with the Texters, coming off a close loss to San Miguel Beer two nights ago, and the Aces looking for the crucial headstart in this short playoff for a place in the Final Four.
Rain or Shine and crowd-darling Barangay Ginebra also open their own race-to-two series in the 5 p.m. contest.
The Beermen topped the eliminations by virtue of a 104-98 nipping of the Texters on Friday night and will play No. 8 sister team Star tomorrow, needing to beat the Hotshots just once to advance to the semifinals.
Meralco, which was relegated to second spot after losing in the tiebreak to the Beermen, will play its sister squad, seventh-seeded NLEX, also needing to win just once over the Road Warriors tomorrow at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
The winners of the Ginebra-Rain or Shine and San Miguel-Star series will advance to the Final Four, which will be a best-of-five.
Whoever survives the Alaska-TNT, Meralco-NLEX match-ups will cross paths in the other half of the semifinals.
Castro sat out that loss to the Beermen reportedly because of a bum stomach, but the Texters still showed how good they can be even without their leading local scorer by pushing San Miguel to the limit.
Alaska, meanwhile, broke in former Best Import Rob Dozier in a 104-98 decision of the Road Warriors also on Friday, and the hard-working center will certainly come into this game in far better game shape than he did that game.
While TNT is seeking to go deep in this tournament yet again, the Aces are looking for a reprisal of their 2013 title-winning performance with Dozier and win a championship again.
Rain or Shine will also have new import Pierre Henderson-Niles playing just his second game, and the burly center will be ranged against the tall frontline of the Kings led by the 7-foot Greg Slaughter.
Coach Yeng Guiao is also hoping the Paul Lee gets back into shape as he will face the rejuvenated LA Tenorio, the former Jones Cup MVP who is playing well for Ginebra of late.