EITHER Meralco or NorthPort gets some breather in a clash of two sides on alarming slump at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig Friday.
From promising PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup debuts, both have gone on sudden downfalls and ache to stop bleeding nearing the halfway mark of the one-round-robin elimination phase.
The Bolts and the Batang Pier square off at 7:30 p.m.
After a 97-75 blasting of the Terrafirma Dyip in their first game, the Batang Pier's fortunes turned around, reeling to losses to Rain or Shine (96-113), Blackwater (98-120) and Barangay Ginebra (106-131) with main man Arvin Tolentino sidelined by a right hip flexor injury.
The Bolts were on a stronger start with back-to-back wins over the Converge FiberXers (91-89) and the Dyip (118-80) then took a dive with beatdowns from the San Miguel Beermen (98-110), the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters (97-109) and the ROS Elasto Painters (116-128).
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And now both have some catching up to do, with the Top Four - and the twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals - being the goal for everyone.
Tolentino remains a doubtful starter, making things tougher for the Batang Pier who are making big adjustment on the exit of Commissioner's Cup prized import Kadeem Jack.
With tremendous lift from Jack and with Tolentino dishing out MVP performances, the Batang Pier outperformed the Bolts in the midseason tourney, topping the elims before being stopped by the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the semifinals.
Interestingly, NorthPort's one of three losses in the elims then came at the hands of Meralco (94-111).
The Bolts are also struggling, now being a shadow of the team that broke through with a first PBA championship in this tourney last season. (SB)
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