The Meralco Bolts is scheduled for a head-to-head game against the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Gin Kings at 3:45 PM on November 25, 2020, live from the AUF Sports Arena and Cultural Center in Angeles City, Pampanga.
Barangay Ginebra is looking to close out their best-of-five series against the Bolts later with just a win away from claiming a finals berth anew.
In their game 3 skirmish, the Gin Kings, in one instance, led by as much as 25 points that eventually gave them the 91-84 victory to regain the lead, 2-1, in their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-five semifinals faceoff with Meralco.
Stanley Pringle bested all scorers with 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Early in the contest, Ginebra had a 37-12 advantage over the Bolts, and despite their lead being trimmed down to just 11 points, 34-45, at halftime, Gin Kings found their footing anew and answered back Meralco’s rampage.
With 3 minutes left on the clock, Gin Kings’ lead became so insurmountable that Meralco couldn’t even slash it to a single-possession lead and, in due course, put them at a disadvantage heading into today’s game.
“The hardest thing to win in the series is the closeout game. I find oftentimes Game 4s harder to win than Game 5s of a five-game series. We understand that, and we know that. We’ll just have to find our way through it. And it really comes down to really lifting your intensity level of the other team because they’re desperate now. They have to win,” said Ginebra head coach Tim Cone.
“It’s going to be really hard to close them out. They got a great coach over there who’s also been through these kinds of wars, and they got a young, hungry core that’s listening to him,” added Cone.
For his part, Meralco head coach Norman Black said: “Simply put, we’re in a must-win situation. We must play better on both ends of the court, and we must bring a high energy level.”
A victory will send the first-seeded Ginebra to the finals for the 27th time in its four-decade history in the PBA. A win by the fifth-seeded Meralco, on the other hand, will stretch the series to a deciding fifth game on Friday.