Alaska Aces vs Meralco Bolts. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
THE FINAL Four series in the Oppo-PBA Commissioner’s Cup very few pundits predicted would go deep plays its decider today, with Meralco seeking the franchise’s first title series appearance and Alaska trying to avert a reversal and get a second crack at a championship this season.
Tipoff is at 7 p.m. at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, with the Bolts riding the momentum of an 86-70 win over the Aces on Monday night that necessitated the rubber match of this best-of-five series.
The winner advances to face Rain or Shine in the finals.
The Elasto Painters got a couple of more days of rest after winning the other half of the semifinals against San Miguel Beer.
Despite qualifying for the playoffs as the third-ranked team, Alaska has the decided edge in manpower and playoff experience over the No. 2 Bolts.
The Aces split the first two games with the Bolts via narrow margins before playing according to predictions by blowing Meralco off the floor in Game 3.
But Meralco had other things in mind and promptly returned the favor a game later, shackling the Aces with sustained intensity on both ends on Monday night to post the rousing win.
Meralco has made heads turn all tournament long, leading the eliminations until the last day of the round when San Miguel Beer knocked the Bolts out of No. 1 because of the winner-over-the-other rule.
“We have to remain hungry,” coach Norman Black said after the Game 4 win. “Now that we’re here, we’ll try to win Game 5.”
The Aces were the losing finalists to the Beermen in the Philippine Cup and will be going into a KO match for the second straight series after being taken to a Game 3 by defending champion Tropang TNT in the quarterfinals.
“If we play this way, they (Bolts) are going to the Finals,” said Alaska coach Alex Compton, obviously disappointed at how the way his Aces played Game 4. “Give them credit. That team reminds me of us when we are playing our best.”
“We got to be a lot better,” Compton said.