Canaleta sinks 9 treys as Air21 makes playoffs
Games today:
Mall of Asia Arena
4:15 p.m.- Globalport vs Barako Bull
6:30 p.m.- Barangay Ginebra vs. Talk ‘N Text
Niño Canaleta caught fire from the three-point land and lifted the Air21 Express to a playoff-clinching 95-91 overtime win over the Petron Blaze Boosters last night in the 38th PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.
By edging out the Boosters, the Express completed the quarterfinal cast as Air21’s victory formally eliminated the Barako Bull Boosters.
Air21 finished the elimination round with six wins and eight losses. The Express will have an uphill climb in the playoffs as they play the twice-to-beat Alaska Aces.
The Aces took the number one seeding, which comes with a twice-to-beat edge, after finishing the initial round with 11 wins and three losses.
Despite a twice-to-beat disadvantage, Air21 cannot be taken lightly in the playoffs since it is one of only two teams that has beaten Alaska in the elimination round. Alaska’s two other losses were dealt by the defending champions San Mig Coffee Mixers.
Canaleta led Air21’s crucial win by exploding for 37 whopping points on a nine-for-18 from the three-point territory. Canaleta’s nine triples tied a franchise record.
Petron dropped to 7-6 (win-loss), falling to joint third place with sister teams San Mig Coffee and Barangay Ginebra.
San Mig was still playing the Meralco Bolts as of this writing.
Petron led by as many as 17 points, 33-16, in the second quarter but Canaleta, who added nine rebounds, fired five trifectas in a searing that saw the Express trim the deficit to just 10, 54-44, going into the final half.
The Express used a 10-0 blitz in the third to tie the count at 58-all. The two teams figured in a back and forth battle from that point on.
Canaleta hit a three-pointer that gave the Express an 87-84 lead in the final 31.7 seconds of regulation but Marcio Lassiter tied the contest anew with his own triple with 25.2 ticks to go.
Mark Isip missed two attempts in the paint, sending the game into overtime.
