Here are the live scores, updates, and results of the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Semi-Finals Game 6 between the San Miguel Beermen and the Meralco Bolts scheduled on August 14, 2022, at 4:30 PM.
The Bolts will try to extend their season and hopes to make an upset while the Beermen are ready to claim the Finals ticket when the All-Filipino Conference resumes this afternoon at the Big Dome.
Though San Miguel got the upper hand going to their Game 6 schedule where they turned their best-of-seven series to a series like in the Quarterfinals round where they have a twice-to-beat advantage yet head coach Leo Austria is cautious of what their opponent can do as they try to avoid what happened in the past, particularly during the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup.
“Ilang beses na nila kaming pinahiya, tinalo nila kami while having the twice-to-beat advantage,” Austria said.
It was two years ago that what could be the beginning of the end of San Miguel’s dominance in the first conference after their main man Jun Mar Fajardo suffered a major injury that sidelined him the entire season. That was also the start where SMB calibrated their lineup where they sent Alex Cabagnot, Arwind Santos, and others to different ball clubs in a series of trades.
One player they acquired during those past off-season moves which are looking stellar in this series is Jericho Cruz. Cruz was the main catalyst in slowing down their opponent in Game 4 where he shut down Bolts’ gunner Allein Maliksi, particularly in the second half of the contest.
“Ang mindset ko kasi kung ma-stop namin (yung scorers nila), mali-limit namin yung plays nila sa kabila, which is nangyari nga,” said Cruz.
For Meralco on the other hand, head coach Norman Black most likely got their adjustment on how to provide space for Maliksi or perhaps make him a decoy, a similar plot that San Miguel staged in their past games.
Maliksi went the scoreless majority of the second half in Game 4 until he drilled a three-pointer in the fourth quarter or during what seemed to be their final push. Another Meralco player who went cold in their scoring department is Aaron Black, struggling from the field with his 2-of-11 field goals.