AS Barangay Ginebra turned on the switch in the second half, the opposite came about for Meralco.
The Bolts’ flat start in the third quarter cost them a 110-95 loss to the defending champion Kings in Sunday night’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
As the Kings finally found their rhythm after trailing for most of the first half, the Bolts on their part, suddenly couldn’t get their game going, allowing the crowd favorite to turn the tide in their favor.
The result had Meralco reeling to their second loss in three outings in a week’s span.
“We played a good first half, and then came out flat in the second half,” said coach Norman Black following the game.
“We never played with a lot of intensity, a lot of passion in the second half. We couldn’t match their intensity and they took over the game. That’s basically in a nutshell.”
Meralco led by as many as 35-20 in the second quarter behind a hot 42 percent shooting from the three-point range and 48 percent from the field overall as Ginebra struggled to find its range.
But then came the second half, and suddenly the Bolts went cold just as the Kings started to get hot.
The Kings went to outscore the Bolts in the third period, 39-17, and took control of the match.
“Today we seemed to lack the energy in the second half to compete with them when they played well in the second half,” said Black.
At the same time, the Meralco coach thought the Ginebra backcourt outplayed the guard-heavy roster of the Bolts.
As it was, only Baser Amer finished in double figures among the Meralco locals with 10 points.
“My guards really got outplayed. They did a good job against Columbian last game, but tonight they were outplayed by the guards of Ginebra in the second half,” said Black.
“We made too many turnovers and when you made that many turnovers, you’re not going to win that many games,” he noted.
Meralco only had four turnovers more than Ginebra (15-11), but gave up a lot in terms of turnover points, 23-14.
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