MANILA – Magnolia Hotshots and San Miguel Beermen will aim to move closer to the 2019 Honda PBA Philippine Cup trophy when both squads battle in Game 5 of the best-of-seven finals tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Both teams were knotted at 2-2 heading into the match at seven in the evening with the Hotshots capturing victories in Games 1 and 3, while the Beermen responding with Games 2 and 4 wins.
Hotshots failed to push the defending champions to the wall in Game 4 on Wednesday night after absorbing a 98-114 defeat behind the near-perfect performance of Beermen center June Mar Fajardo.
“June Mar dominated the game. He shot a high percentage in the paint and that’s the story of the game,” said Hotshots head coach Chito Victolero. “We need to do a better job on June Mar in the post next game. I think he shot almost 100 percent.”
“I told my players we need to get back to our strength which is defense,” he added. “It’s about our defensive mindset. The good thing is the series is tied and Friday’s game is the pivotal game so we have to prepare for that.”
Beermen head coach Leo Austria, for his part, said that he is hoping his players will be able to sustain their accurate shooting from the other night to move closer to their fifth straight All-Filipino conference title.
“This is the kind of game we are a looking for. From start to finish, we were able to sustain our energy,” said Austria.
“It’s a matter of effort and we were able to score a lot in the shaded area. That’s the time na nakaka-shoot ‘yung players namin from the perimeter unlike in our last game,” he added./PN
