SAN MIGUEL Beer guns for its second-straight win when it tackles Phoenix today in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
The Beermen opened their mid-season conference campaign with a come-from-behind 99-92 victory over Meralco on Sunday and could go 2-0 if they beat the Fuel Masters, 94-91 winners over the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings in Davao City last weekend, in the 7 p.m. match.
TNT goes for its third-consecutive win against sister-team NLEX at 4:15 p.m. with the KaTropa hoping to improve to 3-1 won-lost card.
The Beermen showed poise down the wire and stopped the hot-shooting Bolts at crunch time with three-time Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo imposing his will to finish with 24 points and 12 rebounds.
Import Charles Rhodes was in support mode with 22 points and 12 boards against the Bolts.
But San Miguel Beer Head Coach Leo Austria said the six-foot-eight Rhodes has yet to perfectly fit to his system.
“Obviously we had a bad start. We really had no rhythm at all. I hope we’ll be good in the next few games,” Austria said. “I hope Rhodes will show his true worth. I believe that the tandem of Fajardo and Rhodes is a huge threat inside the paint.”
The Fuel Masters, on the other hand, got big numbers from Matthew Wright and import Jameel Mckay to stun the reigning Governors’ Cup champions Gin Kings and go 2-2 in the conference.