After avoiding the prospect of getting swept, Magnolia marches to warzone anew to clash with San Miguel Beer and shoot for a crucial victory that will tie their Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven finals series today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Action kicks off at 7:30 p.m. with the Hotshots determined to ride on the momentum they built from their impressive 88-80 win in Game 3 of this race-to-four title showdown.
In Game 3, a more recharged Magnolia squad showed up to spoil San Miguel’s bid of erecting an imposing 3-0 series lead.
In fact, the Hotshots put on the clamps, allowing the Beermen to score only 80 points, which is way lower than the 103 points they averaged in their past matches.
Prior to the finals series, Magnolia, the top seed in the eliminations, allowed its foes to score an average of 88 points, making its performance in Game 3 a strong indication that it can still recover against mighty San Miguel.
Magnolia import Tyler Bey played his least productive offensive game with only 11 points, but he made it up by contributing mightily on the defensive end, especially against San Miguel import Bennie Boatwright who was limited to just 27 points on a sour 10-of-28 shooting from the field with eight turnovers and 13 rebounds.
“Tyler is a very skilled, athletic player,” said Victolero, adding that he was hardly bothered by the sluggish offensive performance of the high-scoring Bey, who averaged 25 points and 15 rebounds in their previous matches.
“He’s long, he’s quick and I think he’s the best player to be assigned to Boatwright. Hopefully, he can do the same thing in our next game.”
But it wasn’t just Boatwright who became the target of Magnolia’s defense as even sniper Marcio Lassiter didn’t get enough good looks at the basket.
Lassiter was held down to only four points while Jericho Cruz was unable to play coupled by the continuous absence of Terrence Romeo, who is still nursing an ankle injury.
Cruz, on the other hand, served a one-game suspension committing a total of five technical fouls this conference.
With Lassiter grounded, Cruz suspended and Romeo sidelined by an injury, San Miguel’s wing rotation was greatly affected, leaving the brunt of the production on CJ Perez, who had 16 markers.
Even June Mar Fajardo, the seven-time Most Valuable Player, didn’t get much touches while his backup, Mo Tautuaa, was ineffective as the Hotshots outplayed their more superior counterparts in Game 3.
The positivity brought by Magnolia’s defense also manifested in its offensive game, and for Mark Barroca, the energy they have shown was infectious as it rubbed off on everyone with six players ending up in double figures.
“Scoring is always there, but my mindset is always defense first. Coach Chito said anything you do positive, it would reflect on the rest of the team,” said Barroca, who led the way with 20 points and six assists to become the most consistent performer for the Hotshots.
