Games today:
Araneta Coliseum
5:15 p.m. – Rain or Shine vs. Barako Bull
7:30 p.m. – Alaska vs. San Mig Coffee
Rivals Alaska and San Mig Coffee mix it up today as they gun for win number four in the ongoing PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Both the Aces and the Mixers are expected to engage in a physical and emotional battle, especially since they are out to boost their top four aspirations in the ongoing tournament.
Making the matchup more interesting is the fact that these two teams figured in a near free-for-all in a tune-up match during the conference break.
The Mixers, playing then without Marc Pingris who was on duty with the Gilas Pilipinas, beat the Aces by 25 points in that game.
Pingris will still be out today, serving the second of his two-game suspension for his role in a separate brawl against GlobalPort last week.
But in a report in pba.ph, Alaska coach Luigi Trillo said he is still wary of San Mig Coffee even without Pingris.
“We played them in the preseason without Pingris and they beat us by 25 points,” Trillo told pba.ph.
Joe Devance, the other San Mig player involved in the GlobalPort melee who was suspended for one game, will return today. It can be recalled that it was Devance who started the fracas against GlobalPort when he shoved the Batang Pier’s Marvin Hayes to the ground. Witnesses of the preseason game against Alaska also pointed to Devance as the instigator of the brawl against the Aces.
Alaska, the Commissioner’s Cup champion, is currently at No. 4 with a 3-2 (win-loss) slate while San Mig Coffee is at fifth alongside Rain or Shine with a 3-3 card.
Out to lead the Mixers will be Player of the Week awardee James Yap, who averaged 20 points and six rebounds in wins over GlobalPort and Ginebra. / Brian j. ochoa with reports from pba.ph and jonas panerio