Meralco's Maliksi earns PBA Player of the Week honors

MANILA, Philippines – Allein Maliksi bounced back in a big way for Meralco in their PBA Philippine Cup clash against Barangay Ginebra last Sunday.

Maliksi lit up for 25 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field to lift the Bolts to a 91-73 win over the Gin Kings. Such production earned him the PBA Press Corps-Pilipinas Live Player of the Week honors.

The Meralco hotshot was coming off a poor performance in which he only had four points and shot 2-of-10 from the field and went 0-of-7 from 3-point territory.

But in the Ginebra game, Maliksi was all over, firing four 3-pointers that helped the Bolts break the game wide open against the Kings, who suffered their first defeat in their third game.

“We really had confidence in our guys. We know that we are better than that,” said Meralco coach Luigi Trillo, referring to their struggles before the Ginebra game. “There’s a lot of maturity all around from (Maliksi) as one of our leaders.”

With Maliksi taking the cudgels against Ginebra, Meralco snapped a two-game losing skid, and improved to 2-3 entering the All-Star and Holy Week breaks, while avoiding a deep hole had it lost another game.

The 36-year-old Maliksi said he never felt discouraged from his struggles in the game against NorthPort.

“Sabi ko, I work hard and prepare myself everyday in practice. Eventually, there’s an off-night. Sometimes, maganda ‘yung game mo. Just be confident, enjoy the game, and play the right way,” said Maliksi.