The Purefoods-Star Hotshots is scheduled for a head-to-head game against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters at 5:00 P.M. on May 6, 2017 in Batangas City Sports Center, Batangas.
The defending champion Elasto Painters is looking to climb up in the 2017 PBA Commissioner’s Cup standings ladder while the Hotshots will try to supress them and improve their current win-loss record.
Just like with the yesterday’s Phoenix, GlobalPort, Talk ‘N Text and San Miguel games, both Star and Rain or Shine will also have missing players in their lineup.
Jio Jalalon and Allein Maliksi will be out for the Hotshots while RoS will miss the services of their athletic big-man Raymond Almazan.
These three players were got shortlisted and will play for coach Chot Reyes Gilas Pilipinas squad in 2017 SEABA Championships.
Apart from those two Star key players, coach Chito Victolero still don’t have Marc Pingris in his roster when they battle Rain or Shine in Batangas.
“We’re preparing for Rain or Shine, and we prepared without Allein and Jio, halos top 2 or 3 scorers ko yun sa team eh. Pero we’re ready naman and I talked to my players, they need to step up,” Victolero told FOX Sports.
This match will also mark as the second round for Paul Lee versus James Yap after the duo switched places prior to the start of the 2017 PBA Philippine Cup.
Paul Lee was more impressive than the former PBA Most Valuable Player where he drops 14 points against his former team including a heart-breaking three and beat RoS, 99-91.
Lee was the main catalyst in that RoS championship run last year and was even named as the 2016 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals MVP.