TOP seed San Miguel moved halfway into reaching the PBA Philippine Cup finals, while No. 2 Barangay Ginebra could be in for a long-drawn battle against Meralco.
The Beermen repeated over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 106-89, to take a 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven semis showdown.
But the Kings are now tied with the Bolts at 1-1 as Meralco grinded out a 103-91 win.
Game 3 of both semis playoffs will be on Wednesday at the Dasmarinas Arena in Cavite.
Before getting ahead of the series, here are the takeaways ifromn Sunday’s semis doubleheader at the Mall of Asia Arena.
SCOTTIE IS ‘MIA’ FOR BARANGAY GINEBRA
The Kings are missing Scottie Thompson’s presence in the semis. In two games, the former MVP averaged 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists. In the Game 2 loss, he only had six points, a rebound, and two assists. The Ginebra guard is obviously struggling, making just 5-of-19 in two games or about 30 percent from the floor. The Kings need some big games from Scottie if it is to win this series against the Bolts.
NEWSOME REMAINS MERALCO’S ENERGY GUY
In contrast to Thompson, Chris Newsome is silently doing his thing for the Bolts. He fell short in rallying Meralco in the Game 1 loss – remember him diving for the loose ball that led to a Chris Banchero basket in the final two minutes - but was steady in the stretch of the Game 2 win. He averaged 20.5 points in the semis, third best behind Christian Standhardinger (27.5 points) and June Mar Fajardo (23.3 points), and 8.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.0 steal.
RAIN OR SHINE YET TO HAVE AN ANSWER TO FAJARDO
June Mar Fajardo remains the biggest puzzle for coach Yeng Guiao and the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters. After a 23-11-5 statline in the series opener, the seven-time MVP had 22 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists in Game 2, where he presided over a San Miguel third-quarter breakaway in which he scored 18 points. He’s shooting at least 70 percent from the field (17-of-24) as Rain or Shine bigs Beau Belga and rookie Keith Datu are both outmatched inside the paint.
CAN LASSITER TOPPLE ALAPAG RECORD AT SEASON’S END?
Marcio Lassiter is now No. 3 in the all-time list for 3-point shots made, surpassing LA Tenorio with his 1,219 total. Retired greats Jimmy Alapag and Allan Caidic are the top two in the list with 1,250 and 1,242, respectively. While it appears certain the 37-year-old Fil-Am will become the all-time leader in 3-pointers made, given his career resurgence this season, the question that begs an answer is if he could achieve the feat by the end of Season 48. Less than a month ago, he surpassed two-time MVP James Yap at No. 4 when he tallied 1,197. Eight games later, he made 22 more for his current total. As things stand, he needs 24 threes to surpass Caidic and 32 to beat Alapag to become undisputed 3-point king.
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