SUMMARY
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MANILA, Philippines – The third quarter of the game between the Purefoods Star Hotshots and Globalport Batang Pier on Friday, January 30, was a tale of two stories.
On one side of the court, the Hotshots were playing championship-caliber basketball: sharing the ball with crisp passes, impressive off-ball cutting to get easy looks under the rim, and a continuos fastbreak assault that all but sealed the contest.
On the other side, the Batang Pier’s import looked dejected. With sweat dropping from every fiber of his body and a quadricep clearly hobbled, most his shots were blocked multiple times by the opponents’ superior import. The rest of his teammates weren’t any better, going one-on-one almost every play and taking ineffective shot attempts.
By the start of the fourth period, it was no longer a game. And it didn’t take after long for the final buzzer to ring, signaling a 83-70 victory for Purefoods – their first in the 2015 PBA Commissioner’s Cup – at the Cuneta Astrodome – the same arena where their previous championship dynasty came to an end.
“We’re all about moving forward,” said Purefoods head coach Tim Cone, whose team was eliminated by the Meralco Bolts the last time they were at the Cuneta Astrodome. “We don’t look back in our defeats and we don’t look back at our wins. And that’s what makes this team successful.”
(RELATED: Meralco Bolts overcome slow start to down KIA)
By the look of their performance, he’s right. Purefoods was lethal against GlobalPort, led by their temporary import Marqus Blakely who put up 26 points, grabbed 18 rebounds, and swatted 7 shots.
“He’s like a warm blanket because we know him so well, we know what we can do with him, he’s comfortable with all our defensive schemes,” Cone said.
“He plays so much bigger than 6-5. He plays like he’s 6-9.”
Blakely dislocated his shoulder during the game, but the team’s trainers popped it back in and he was able to close out the contest. PJ Simon missed the game due to a back injury, while Marc Pingris was hounded by the same issue but still came off the bench to record 6 points and 6 rebounds.
Mark Barroca and Alex Mallari each played well, putting up a combined 21 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists. James Yap scored 9, and Justin Melton put up 8.
“We’re no longer in the mountain top, but if we want to get back to the mountain top, it’s going to be through the defense we play,” said Cone. On Friday, his words rang true to his players, who forced GlobalPort to 35% shooting from the floor.
“Three or four times I think we held them to 24-second violations because we were able to sustain our defense,” Cone said.
The Batang Pier were led by Leslie, who finished with 25 points on 22 shot attempts and 8 rebounds. Terrence Romeo scored 19 on 8-of-17 shooting.
“It feels good to come out and get our first game. I can’t remember the last time we won the first game of the conference. Hopefully that bodes well for us,” Cone said.
Both teams countered punches in the first half, with Purefoods ahead only by five, 41-36, at the start of the third quarter. But that would quickly change as the Hotshots unleashed a 20-10 run to build a 15 point lead, and later went up by 18, 68-50.
GlobalPort got stuck in such a big hole due to their putrid offense, which yielded tons of contested midrange jumpers. With Leslie playing but banged up, the team also had no inside presence.
Purefoods’ lead was cut to 11 midway through the fourth, but they managed to rack up consecutive field goals – capped off by a thunderous alley-oop slam by Blakely from Barroca – to seal the contest.
The Hotshots will be back in action on Tuesday, February 3, against the Alaska Aces. “It’s harder to play the runners-up than it is the champions,” Cone said about his team’s next opponents, who are coming off a finals loss to the San Miguel Beermen in the Philippine Cup.
But Purefoods is dangerous as well. As Cone said, “We’ve got a team that’s formidable.”
Scores
Purefoods 83: Blakely 26, Barroca 11, Mallari 10, Yap 9, Melton 8, Pingris 6, Devance 6, Maliksi 5, Reavis 2, Alvarez 0, Pennisi 0, Gaco 0, Allado 0
Globalport 70: Leslie 25, Romeo 19, Miranda 10, Pringle 4, Ponferada 4, Semerad 3, Taha 2, Isip 2, Pinto 1, Buenafe 0, Caperal 0, Nabong 0, Baclao 0
Quarter Scores: 21-20, 41-36, 57-46, 83-70
– Rappler.com
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