San Miguel, NLEX seek share of lead

SAN Miguel Beer and NLEX, sides which have paraded the most prolific imports thus far in the PBA Governors’ Cup, slug it out today with a piece of the early elimination round lead at stake at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Arizona Reid goes head-to-head with Henry Walker for the first time in the tournament, both reinforcements coming off 40-plus points games while leading their respective teams to impressive conference-opening victories.

Reid dominated in the second half against Phoenix Petroleum and finished with 41 points, while Walkers tossed in 44 in an authoritative thumping of Blackwater, setting the bar early on who the best scorers are in the tournament.

Tip-off is at 4:15 p.m. with San Miguel enjoying a huge edge as far as local rosters are concerned.

The Elite and the Star Hotshots try to enter the win column when they clash in the 7 p.m. contest.

Reid, a two-time Best Import winner, clearly hasn’t lost a step in his sixth conference playing here, taking over against the Fuel Masters with 22 of his 41 points in the final two quarters to key the San Miguel win.

His total would have been a lot bigger had coach Leo Austria not pulled him out while on a super-hot streak early in the fourth period. He had scored nine of the Beermen’s final 13 third quarter points and the first three of the fourth when Austria gave him a rest.

The braid-haired import showed his disgust and got into a discussion with Austria, who dismissed the incident as just Reid “being too competitive and simply not wanting to lose.”

“AZ knows that we need a win and he also knows that there are a lot of competitive imports around,” Austria had said after that game.

That competition will come in the form of Walker, who went about his business gingerly against the Elite and posted the tournament mark.

With a local roster that has reigning two-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and a load of other All-Stars, San Miguel has the obvious edge for this game, putting pressure on Walker to do more—whether score or free up his teammates.

Asi Taulava, at 43 years old, will be tasked to take care of Fajardo in cases of single coverage, with Sean Anthony, Kevin Alas and Jonas Villanueva all to see major minutes.