As much as Cliff Hodge described the heartbreaking loss Meralco absorbed in Game 2 of the PBA Philippine Cup as “just one game,” there’s also a reason for the Bolts to pity themselves for the missed chance of getting another win over San Miguel Beer.
“We should have won that. We had them on the ropes,” Hodge said before acknowledging the way the Beermen were able to pull off an escape act, 95-94, at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“It’s a championship team and they made the big plays when they needed to.”
Tip-off is at 6:30 p.m. for either of the Bolts and the Beermen to move two wins shy of lifting the Jun Bernardino Perpetual Trophy.
But despite having to settle for a 1-1 tie after two games of the best-of-seven championship series instead of being two-up on the tournament favorites going into Sunday’s Game 3 at the same venue, Hodge and the Bolts have reasons to be confident.
Triples from CJ Perez and Marcio Lassiter—the latter hitting the eventual winner—coupled with a split by Chris Banchero from the foul line and a missed layup down the stretch enabled San Miguel to escape, even after seeing Meralco have control for much of the second half.
Redemption game
Meralco’s defense has been stifling, most of the stops made resulting in baskets on the other end.
“I’m pretty confident in the way we’re playing right now,” said Hodge, who scored 25 points apart from his usual gung ho style on defense. “I feel like if we stick to the game plan, then we have a chance of winning every game.”
Redemption will likely be the battle cry the Bolts will carry once they return to the Big Dome floor, particularly Banchero, whose misses were bitter pills to swallow.
How they’ll respond is what coach Luigi Trillo and active consultant Nenad Vucinic were working on Saturday, and Meralco hopes to figure this out despite the quick turnaround.
“These are [the] type of games that you got to move on [from],” said Trillo. “At the same time, we also have to see the video and what kind of breakdowns occurred in Game 2.
“With that being said, we didn’t play that well,” added Trillo, whose team had to overcome early deficits and countless San Miguel responses in Game 2.
As disappointing as it was for the Bolts not to get the job done as they left the Big Dome on Friday, there’s still plenty of things to fight for.
And most importantly, still in a good position to achieve their ultimate mission of winning the franchise’s first PBA title.
“We want to win every game. But in a Finals series, no one sweeps the other team,” said Hodge.