Game today:
Araneta Coliseum
7:30 p.m.- Barangay Ginebra vs. Alaska
ALASKA has been an immovable force in the first two games of the 38th PBA Commissioner’s Cup best-of-five finals. And if Barangay Ginebra fails to summon the never-say-die attitude it is known for, the Aces could be on their way of bagging their 14th championship title.
Up two games to nil, the Aces try to close out the Kings when they clash anew for tonight’s Game 3 at the Araneta Coliseum.
Alaska handily won Game 1, 87-70, and followed up that masterful victory with yet another blowout triumph in Game 2, 104-90.
“We have a firm gameplan that’s been working. So until they figure that out then you need to keep on going with that. You maximize that,” Alaska head coach Luigi Trillo said in a pba.ph report.
Only two teams have managed to claw back from a 0-2 deficit and won a best-of-five title series: Crispa versus Toyota in the 1975 3rd Conference and Purefoods against Alaska in the 1990 3rd Conference.
Barangay Ginebra head coach Al Francis Chua said the Kings will go all-out to stay alive.
“Talagang ibibigay na ng todo ng mga bata iyan, kasi backs against the wall kami,” said Chua. “Ako wala ng hihingin pa sa kanila. They’re really giving their best, lumalaban kahit ano. Pagdating ng Sunday makikita n’yo, ibibigay nilang lahat.”
A big Ginebra fightback is something that Trillo expects./EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA