MERALCO rides the momentum of a swashbuckling debut against Blackwater while TNT hopes to pick up from where it left off in its last outing as the Bolts and the Tropang Giga clash in a rematch of their 2019 PBA Governors' Cup semifinal faceoff Wednesday at the Big Dome.
It took the Bolts the full route then to get past the Tropang Giga in their best-of-five showdown.
The two teams are with new reinforcements now, but they're still expected to figure in a slambang duel in their 6 p.m. tussle.
The Bolts and Panamanian import Tony Bishop eye a follow-up to their 98-77 rout of the Bossing while McKenzie Moore and the Tropang Giga go for a second straight win after a losing debut against the NLEX Road Warriors.
It's the last game for the year for Meralco, and the Bolts want to end to end it on a winning note.
Sponsored content: The Tropang Giga, meanwhile, hope to build momentum for their final game in 2021 versus the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Dec. 26.
Bishop was pretty solid with 28 points, 13 rebounds, three blocks and two assists as the Bolts blasted the Bossing last Thursday.
"He can shoot from the perimeter and get points inside and more importantly, he rebounded the basketball and blocked some shots defensively," said Meralco coach Norman Black on what he saw from Bishop in his debut with the Bolts.
"He has a lot of versatility in his game, an all-around player. I don't think he's the give-him-the-ball, get-out-of-the-way type of player but he fits well with what we do in terms of ball movement and player movement," Black added.
TNT coach Chot Reyes hopes that they can get by while still trying to regain bearing from their vacation.
Sponsored content: "We really expected to struggle in our first few games because we haven't played any tune-up or practice game with Mac (Moore), Gab (Banal) and the new guys (prior to the tournament debut)," said Reyes. "We have to be patient."
They did struggle in their 102-100 loss to NLEX and even in their 81-77 decision over the Alaska Milk Aces. (SB)
"Tyinaga-tyaga lang namin, and we just found ways. Jayson (Castro) took over. Mac had difficulty scoring, Mikey (Williams) couldn't make shots and so Jayson had to take over," said Reyes.
Castro fired all of his 20 points in the second half to lead TNT's mighty rally from 11 points down and get the reigning Philippine Cup titlists on track. (SB)
