Meralco derails SMB sweep; CJ has poor shooting night
SAN Miguel was on the doorstep of making history, needing just one more win to complete a rare milestone in the PBA - a sweep of the elimination round.
It was not meant to be. MERALCO, playing with more urgency and going for something more, took down the tournament leader, 95-92, during their game at the Batangas City Coliseum and earned ia quarterfinals berth.
San Miguel, well, it finished 10-1, still tops with a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarters.
Meanwhile, at the Ynares Sports Arena, Blackwater went out on a winning note by beating Phoenix, 102-83, in a no-bearing game other than having the pleasure of finishing at No. 10 in the 12-team tournament.
The Bossing achieved it with a 4-7 record, and the Fuel Masters dropped to 3-8.
The takeaways in the penultimate playdate of the All-Filipino conference
1) San Miguel settled for a 10-1 record as it failed to end the eliminations unbeaten. Doing so could have made them just the fifth team in PBA history to achieve the milestone after Presto in 1990 All-Filipino (10-0), San Miguel in 1989 Open Conference (10-0), TNT in 2014 Commissioner’s Cup (9-0), and Crispa in 1980 All Filipino (9-0). Despite the loss, the Beermen remains the top seeded team with a twice-to-beat edge in the quarterfinals.
2.Maybe the loss can be blamed partly on CJ Perez who played unusually cold. He averaged 27.5 points in the Beermen’s last six outings, but scored just eight points on 3-of-14 shooting. To add to his team's woes, CJ uncharacteristically missed two free throws in the final 37 seconds with his side trailing by three. Then with the game on the line, Perez missed a three-point shot with two seconds left that could have sent the game into overtime. Perhaps a rare off-night for the Commissioner’s Cup Best Player of the Conference and Finals MVP.
3.With Aaron Black out with a torn ACL, Meralco reactivated Diego Dario to take his spot, while long-time back-up Anjo Caram was inserted in the starting roster together with Chris Banchero. Bong Quinto meanwhile, continues to come off the bench.
4.The Bossing finally ended a seven-game skid with a 19-point blowout of the Fuel Masters. Troy Rosario had a double-double of 17 points and 14 rebounds, but Jaydee Tungcab hit for a career-high 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting from three-point range. Rookie Christian David was scoreless, but grabbed a total of 11 rebounds.
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