Durham wants no letup from No. 1 Bolts heading into playoffs

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Topping the eliminations is not a cause for celebration for Allen Durham.

Meralco claimed the top seed in the 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup with a 9-2 card but the reigning Best Import said that his team shouldn’t rest on its laurels going forward.

“It feels good, but they don’t give you trophies for being number one in the regular season,” he said after the Bolts’ 104-101 victory over San Miguel Beer on Sunday.

Durham said Meralco’s performance against the Grand Slam-seeking Beermen was a good gauge to see how far last year’s runner-up can go in the playoffs, especially after trailing by 18 points midway through the third quarter before eking out the victory.

“We knew that if we wanted any chance to win, we’re gonna have to play all 48 minutes. That’s what we did tonight. We started slow but we just stayed with it and kept grinding, that’s just the type of team that we are,” he said.

Durham fired 35 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists, and two blocks in the victory and the 29-year-old big man feels it would take more from him and the rest of his teammates if they want to win the franchise’s first-ever PBA title.

“We got to keep doing work and we have a number one goal in mind and that’s to be champs. We got to get back to work tomorrow,” he said. “If you wanna be a champion at anything, it’s not gonna be easy. It’s going to be games like this in the playoffs and we just got to play defense and keep going.”

Meralco faces Blackwater on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.