MERALCO shoots for its eighth straight victory and a 2-0 semifinal series lead when it takes on Alaska in Game Two on Tuesday in the Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
From a 1-6 won-lost record to start the conference, the Bolts have been on a roll and are two wins shy of returning to the Finals. They got the headstart over the Aces, 97-92, in Game One on Sunday at the Ynares Sports Center.
Allen Durham, Chris Newsome and Baser Amer all had major contributions that keyed their seventh consecutive victory.
“It feels really good to get off a good start in this series and get the first win,” Meralco Head Coach Norman Black said.
“But we know we gotta play and its gonna be a battle once again,” Black added as they meet the third-seeded Aces at 7 p.m.
Durham registered another all-around performance of 32 points, 14 rebounds and six assists to lead the Bolts.
Newsome and Baser added 16 and 14 points, respectively, as the Bolts dominated most of the game.
Black said the mission is clear: a return to the Finals and finally solve the riddle they failed to overcome in the past two years.
“We want to go back to the Finals. We just have to keep on winning to do that,” he said. The Bolts fell twice to Barangay Ginebra in the past seasons.
In those losses, Meralco had the Best Import in Durham, but they couldn’t hurdle the Justin Brownlee-led Gin Kings.
For now, their main concern is to get past the Aces.
“We don’t want to put too much pressure on the players. We just trying to fight every day,” Black said.