Here are the live scores, updates, and results of the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Semi-Finals between the San Miguel Beermen (SMB) and the Meralco Bolts scheduled on August 7, 2022, at 6:30 PM.
The Beermen will try to retaliate in this Sunday’s main event schedule. At the same time, the Bolts will make an attempt to tame the considered All-Filipino Cup dragon opponent for the longest time or during the “Kraken’s” era.
Related: San Miguel vs TNT Game 7 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Finals
Bolts’ head coach is back and right away they erased the nightmare of Game 1 where they got demolished by SMB, 97-121. Meralco was fresh from their Quarterfinals round victory versus their Governors’ Cup tormentor, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in a do-or-die round. It looks like San Miguel took advantage of their cloud 9 mindsets and shocked the squad that finished fifth in the eliminations round.
With Black back to the bench of Meralco, it looks like he immediately knew what adjustment they need to do to even the series at 1-1. In the opening quarter, the Bolts wasted no time and took a 34-20 advantage at the end of the opening frame. However, the Beermen quickly found their groove in the second quarter as they close the first half on a high note with 28-17.
Then the story of the second half of Game 2 went like tug-of-war as the third quarter was a close game though Meralco still found a slight advantage after the final horn of the third quarter. In the fourth and final quarter, it was Meralco’s trio that paved the way for them to claim the victory. Toto Jose, Chris Newsome, and Aaron Black were the heroes of the Bolts where they delivered 13, 14, and 15 points respectively.
Cliff Hodge also had a solid performance where he made a double-double performance with his 17 points and 14 rebounds. To contain SMB’s June Mar Fajardo, Raymond Almazan took centerstage as he chipped in with 7 markers and 11 boards.
The Beermen’s comeback in the second quarter was made possible after they made adjustments as they played zone defense. This is one of the perks if you have big men like Fajardo, Mo Tautuaa, and Vic Manuel on your roster. Likewise, San Miguel also has the 6’5 Rodney Brondial who continues to show improvement in his game, particularly in this post-elimination round.
“We have to do something about our zone offense because that’s how they got back in Game 2,” said coach Black. “We had the game under control until they went zone and we struggled so we’ll work on that to try to be better,” he added.