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[av_heading heading=’Ginebra, Meralco gun for 2-1 PBA finals lead ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
By ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings and the Meralco Bolts are set to contest a 2-1 lead in Game 3 of the 2016 Oppo PBA Governor’s Cup best-of-seven finals tonight at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The Kings was able to force a 1-1 draw in the race-to-four championship battle following an 82-79 victory over the Bolts in Game 2 on Sunday evening behind the endgame heroics of Sol Mercado.
“It was certainly a must-win game for us as we couldn’t go down 0-2,” said Kings head coach Tim Cone. “The Bolts were 4-0 (from the semifinals) and their momentum was strong. I wasn’t sure if we have broken their momentum now.”
Cone also credited Mercado for his defensive ploy against Bolts reinforcement Allen Durham, who was held to just 22 points in Game 2 following his 46 points in the series opener.
Meanwhile, Bolts head coach Norman Black refused to blame Durham for his errors down the stretch in Game 2 and instead challenged his local players to up their play in the succeeding games in the series.
“We also have to help AD,” Black said. “If you look at their formation, one guy is defending Durham and two others are standing behind that means they are not guarding people. We have to have better ball movement and make perimeter shots.”
“We’ll make some adjustments, as far as that’s concerned. And Tim has showed us that defense already. So we’ll go back to the drawing board and figure it out, and come up with something to combat in Game 3,” added Black./PN
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