THE league’s newcomers take on the Philippine Cup perennial contenders in the first phase of the quarterfinal round of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) on Saturday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Blackwater and NLEX, which joined the PBA last season, face a daunting task of beating their seeded rivals twice to move on to the next stage.
The Elite, playing their first playoffs game, square off with No. 3 Rain or Shine at 3 p.m., while the Road Warriors battle sister team and sixth seed Talk ‘N Text at 5:15 p.m.
Blackwater booked its first quarterfinal stint with a 108-99 victory over Mahindra, but the Elite face an angry Elasto Painters who were denied by NLEX an automatic semifinals berth.
“Going to the playoffs is a big thing for a young team. We will do our best because for sure they are in rage,” said Blackwater Head Coach Leo Isaac, referring to Rain or Shine’s 106-111 loss to the Road Warriors.
“Hopefully we can compete with them. Baka makaisa kami sa Rain or Shine malay ninyo,” he added.
Coach Yeng Guiao’s team had the chance to move into the best-of-seven semifinal series and be the No. 1 seed, but his squad faltered against the Road Warriors and settled for the No. 3 seed in the quarterfinals.
NLEX is also the underdog against the Tropang Texters, but Head Coach Boyet Fernandez is confident his Road Warriors could force a decider—if they bring along their A-game.
“We just have to play it one game at a time. Definitely this will be a tough one for us,” Fernandez said.