SMB, Magnolia collide in clash of heavyweights

MANILA, Philippines – Grand slam-seeking San Miguel Beer and titleholder Magnolia engage in a clash of heavyweights determined to maintain their respective streaks in the highlight game of the PBA Governors’ Cup Friday double-header at the MOA Arena.

The unblemished Beermen aim to make it four-in-a-row and close in on idle leader TNT KaTropa (5-0) in the 7 p.m. encounter with the tough Hotshots, who themselves are riding on a three-game roll coming off an opening loss.

“It’s going to be a very hard game so we have to go to our strength, which is defense,” said Hotshots coach Chito Victolero, whose wards had to dig deep in their last outing before turning back winless Alaska, 95-90.

At 3-0, the Beermen are enjoying a good conference start for a change and intend to keep it that way.

“We always struggled in every conference after the winning the championship but this time we have a good start,” said SMB coach Leo Austria.

Like the Hotshots, the Beermen went through the wringer before completing their third consecutive victory,  a 98-94 grindout over NLEX a week ago in Dubai.

Meanwhile, Columbian Dyip (2-2) and Blackwater (1-2) face off in the 4:30 p.m. curtain-raiser, deadset on boosting their respective playoffs drives.

The Dyip of coach Johnedel Cardel hope to come out wiser from their weekend duel with TNT, which saw them push the league-leaders to the limit before yielding, 120-125.