Five days removed from an adrenaline-pumping win in front of the biggest crowd in the PBA Governors’ Cup that extended the conference’s longest winning streak, Barangay Ginebra returns to action on Friday night trying to sustain that intensity critical at this stage of the elimination round.
With a playoff berth already in the bag, the Gin Kings can’t afford to slack one bit as a Blackwater crew willing to confirm its new-found respect while enhancing its own playoff drive will be out for blood in the 7 p.m. contest at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Ginebra will be coming off an epic 105-101 overtime victory over Star last Sunday, a match that drew thousands and spiked television ratings.
The defending champion Kings will not be playing against a team of similar caliber—or following—but they have to muster the same intensity they flaunted against the Hotshots in the face of a rising Elite.
Blackwater has won four of its last five games since suiting up Henry Walker, and the Elite will be coming off a franchise-best performance in bamboozling KIA Picanto a week ago.
Ginebra will be the wearier team coming into this game, but its last victory was something the Gin Kings needed—a severe test for the first time in their six-match winning streak.
“This was our first close game this conference,” Cone had said as they moved closer to the top spot—and the lightest playoff assignment.
The Kings will look for another authoritative outing from their twin towers of Japeth Aguilar and Greg Slaughter. But the Elite will also have to figure out LA Tenorio, the league’s best at the point right now, and Justin Brownlee, a consistent producer in the clutch.
Walker has been devastating, to say the least, though taking on this stint on short notice to be able to get in shape for a more lucrative contract that starts late October in the China pro league.
And he has taken the Elite along for the ride, as the franchise won three games for the first time in its PBA existence before establishing club marks in that one-sided win over the malfunctioning Picanto.
JP Erram and James Sena, though, will have their hands full trying to keep up with the Ginebra frontline, which may be a key for coach Leo Isaac if he wants his wards to forge an upset against the rampaging Kings.
Meanwhile, Alaska, after snapping a 14-game losing streak dating back to the last conference, clashes with GlobalPort in the 4:15 p.m. game, looking to win again and stay mathematically in the hunt of advancing.
The Batang Pier will be coming off a loss to NLEX as they played without Stanley Pringle.
Pringle had to rush back to the United States on Sunday to attend to his ailing father.