CONTRASTING scoring executions by Magnolia and San Miguel highlighted the featured PBA Philippine Cup doubleheader at the Philsports Arena on Sunday.
The Hotshots’ offense sputtered against the Meralco Bolts, 74-51, in a game that established the all-time fewest points scored in Purefoods franchise history.
In contrast, the Beermen scored buckets in bunches on the way to a 120-103 rout of NLEX Road Warriors for their ninth straight win in the all-Filipino conference.
COLUMN: Magnolia gives PBA a blackeye
The unbeaten streak locked the No. 1 seed for the mighty Beermen and twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals against the eight seeded squad.
The Hotshots and Road Warriors meanwhile, hurt their chances of finishing at No. 2 for a similar twice-to-beat edge as both remained tied at No. 3 on 5-4 records.
PBA takeaways from Sunday’s games
1) Obviously, Magnolia’s cold shooting from the floor was the talk of the town. While the Hotshots pride themselves as the league’s top defensive team, they’re not lacking in offensive firepower either. But on this day, the team shot tons of bricks behind a measly 25 percent shooting from the field (18-of-71), including 1-of-19 from three-point range (five percent). None among the Hotshots even finished in double figures in the worst showing of the franchise in its proud 36-year history. Come to think of it, just two weeks ago, San Miguel scored 51 points – the same total output of Magnolia – in the third quarter of a win against Converge.
2) The humiliating loss naturally spoiled what was supposed to be a special night for Paul Lee, who was given his plaque for becoming the newest club member of the 1,000 three-point shots made during the halftime break. The 35-year-old guard achieved the milestone in the Hotshots’ road win over Rain or Shine last week. Ironically, even Lee couldn’t make most of his shots and finished with only six points on 0-of-3 shooting from beyond the arc.
3) San Miguel’s offense was clicking on all fronts and dealt NLEX a third straight loss. Six Beermen reached double figures led by the 30 points of CJ Perez, who also had nine rebounds, and the massive 20-21 stats of seven-time MVP June Mar Fajardo. The win put the franchise within two of completing an 11-game sweep of the eliminations, with Blackwater and Meralco its opponents in its final two games.
4) CJ Perez is actually on a scoring tear for the Beermen. The Commissioner’s Cup Best Player of the Conference and Finals MVP had his fifth straight 25-point plus game against the Road Warriors to become the first local player to do the feat after now teammate Terrence Romeo did the same trick during the 2016 Governors’ Cup while still with Northport.
5) NLEX certainly missed the service of top gunner Robert Bolick, who stayed with his wife after giving birth to their first-born son early Sunday morning. Without Bolick, the Road Warriors struggled to cover up his 26.4 points per game average and dampened further their bid of securing a Top 2 finish in the standings for a twice-to-beat advantage in the playoffs. Actually, the legendary Allan Caidic faced almost the same scenario 35 years ago when his wife Millote was laboring on their first-born daughter Mariel during a PBA Third Conference game between Presto and Barangay Ginebra in 1991. Caidic though opted to play and put on the greatest single scoring act by a local in league history when he established an all-time best of 79 points including a record 17 three point shots made. He likewise scored the most points in a half (53) and in a quarter (37) in a 162-149 win. Truly, that’s what stuff legends are made of
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