RECENT revision of the PBA Philippine Cup schedule pits on Sunday TNT and Meralco in a duel of champs at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
And it has become a more exciting showdown with the grand slam-seeking Tropang 5G coming off back-to-back victories after a 0-3 tournament start and the all-Filipino titleholder Bolts also back on winning track with a 105-104 steal versus the NorthPort Batang Pier Friday.
Each one is determined to push their drive as they slug it out at 7:30 p.m. proceeding the 5 p.m. setto between the San Miguel Beermen and the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters.
After three terrible games, coach Chot Reyes' troops regained a good rhythm, hitting the win-column with an 89-84 decision over the Beermen then thundering to a second straight win with a 110-74 demolition of the Terrafirma Dyip.
But Reyes said it's too early to tell if they're now really back in their lethal form.
Sponsored content:
"We have to play a lot more tougher games. But the good thing about this victory (over Terrafirma) was we were able to rest a lot of our players because we have a very big game on Sunday against a very tough team (Meralco)," he said.
"The sudden revision in schedule really kind of caught us by surprise. So now we wanted to use this as a jump-off point for Sunday, really preparatory to Sunday. Not that we were overlooking Terrafirma but 'yun ang maganda sa nilaro ng players, it allowed us to rest our main players in preparation for Sunday."
The Bolts, meanwhile, had to dig deep to overcome the Batang Pier and snap out of a three-game slump.
"Just excellent fight through from our guys. We're struggling. We know that the last two games have been tough. We've been getting beat black and blue, but sometimes when things are not going your way, you have to gut it out. And that's what we did," said Meralco coach Luigi Trillo.
However, just 48 hours after their grind-out win versus the Batang Pier, the Bolts will be back on the floor for what could be another tough outing versus the Tropang 5G.
Sponsored content:
And this is the start of a killer sked for the Bolts as they're to represent the country in the Basketball Champions League in June.
"There are more games right now and we're okay with it. I mean we're just going to have to find ways. We're going to have to count on everybody, get our bench to help our vets out," said Trillo, embracing the honor the carry the Philippine banner in the BCL.
"We're honored to represent the PBA," he said.(SB)
