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MANILA, Philippines - Target ng San Miguel Beermen ang 3-1 kalama-ngan habang hangad naman ng Barangay Ginebra Kings na ibalik sa square-one ang best-of-seven championship sa Game 4 ngayong alas-7 ng gabi sa 42nd PBA Philippine Cup sa Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Kumamada ng kanyang ika-15th double-double sa season na ito si June Mar Fajardo sa 17 puntos at 18 rebounds para sa 99-88 panalo sa Game 3 noong Miyerkules at iangat ang Beermen sa 2-1 lead sa mahabang serye.
Bukod kay Fajardo, umani rin ng 24 puntos, 8 assists at four rebounds si Chris Ross habang 20 naman kay Alex Cabagnot at 16 mula kay Marcio Lassiter upang makaganti sa kanilang 118-124 talo sa Gin Kings via overtime noong Linggo sa Lucena City. Nagwagi rin ang tropa ni coach Leo Austria, 109-82 sa opening game noong Biyernes.
“Two-one is not a safe lead, but they can’t afford to allow us to get the 3-1 lead. There’s that possibility that a team can recover from a 1-3 deficit. Na-expe-rience namin ‘yan and we don’t want that to happen to us,” sabi ni San Miguel coach Leo Austria na tinutukoy ang kanilang 0-3 deficit kontra sa Alaska Aces sa Finals ng 2016 Philippine Cup.
Ayon naman kay multi-titled coach Tim Cone ng Ginebra, ang Game 4 ay para na ring must-win situation sa kanila dahil mahirap na ring habulin kung maiwanan ng malaki sa serye.
“We need our A-plus game. A-minus is not good enough to put this team down. This team is so good and has so many weapons. We’ll keep plugging away and hopefully get Game Four,” ayon kay Cone, ang most winningest coach sa kanyang 19 championship titles kabilang na ang dalawang Grandslam.
Para makuha ng Gin Kings ang susunod na laro at muling ibalik sa 2-2 tabla, kailangan nila ang focus, disipline at maayos na executions ng kanilang game plan kagaya sa Game 2 kung saan lumamang pa sila ng 26 puntos sa first half.
“We played the game we wanted to (in Game Three). We liked the tempo we’re playing. Our second group played very well. But down the stretch we couldn’t execute on both ends of the floor, offensively and defensively. That’s basically the story of the game. We didn’t execute well, we didn’t get the shots we needed to get. And that’s the function of execution. We like down-the-stretch basketball but we didn’t do the things we normally do down the stretch,” dagdag ni Cone.
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