Source: (The Philippine Star) By Nelson Beltran
The Tropang Texters and the Giants have to close out the series today or face the specter of playing under tremendous pressure going through a possible sudden death Sunday.
The Texters take on the Kings at 5 p.m. while the Giants collide with the Elasto Painters at 7:30 p.m.
Despite their victories last Wednesday, pressure remain on the Kings and the Elasto Painters as they set out in their second do-or-die duel after dropping the first two games in their respective quarters series.
Both teams, however, are confident of forcing a pair of rubber matches, raring to come out and fight the way they did in Game Three.
The Elasto Painters fought ferociously throughout and squeezed out a 95-92 decision while the Kings squandered a 13-point halftime lead but recovered to salvage a 102-97 victory.
Rain or Shine, playing a third knockout game in two weeks, got a big break when Purefoods ‘ injured key players Kerby Raymundo, Rico Maierhofer and Peter June Simon took a rest Wednesday.
On the expected return of Raymundo and Maierhofer, Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia said the Elasto Painters are ready to rise to the challenge.
“We really have to compete every game. I still believe we can make a comeback if we compete with a big heart,” said Garcia.
Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio, meanwhile, said they would play with a sense of urgency in a bid to end the series in four games.
“It’s a must-win situation for us whether we play with a complete roster or not. We are not looking beyond Friday. The sense of urgency must be present from the opening tip till the end,” said Gregorio.
Talk n Text coach Chot Reyes also hoped they could finish off the dangerous Kings in Game Four.
With their back against the wall, Ginebra coach Jong Uichico was forced to reactivate Jayjay Helterbrand Wednesday with the 2008 MVP winner putting in significant contributions.
“It’s really hard to play Talk n Text. You have to find a way to beat them,” said coach Uichico as they squeezed through in Game Three to narrow their deficit to 1-2 in the best-of-five series.
“Jayjay was not yet supposed to return (Wednesday). But if we wait for his full recovery, he might miss the entire series,” Uichico said.
“We now have a semblance of a shot. Hopefully, we can get through again to force a sudden death,” he added.
JC Intal, Eric Menk and Ronald Tubid played key roles as the Kings frustrated the Texters in their first attempt at closing out the series.
Intal came through with a career-high 25 points on top of 10 rebounds, three assists and one steal while Menk added 20 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
Tubid, a contender for the Best Player of the Conference, struggled in the first three quarters but delivered when needed the most in the crunch.
Helterbrand chipped in eight points, three rebounds and the same number of assists.
Willy Wilson, Mark Caguioa and Cyrus Baguio also chipped in their share but the Kings still had a hard time shaking off the gutsy Texters.
The Kings eventually escaped with the win only on three missed three-pointers by Jimmy Alapag and Renren Ritualo in the closing seconds.
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