B-MEG eyes win over Meralco; Talk ‘N Text tries to stay alive against Petron

AKTV/Paolo Papa

B-MEG tries to inch closer to the incentive or a possible outright finals seat as it takes on the eliminated Meralco in the opener of the PBA Governors’ Cup semifinal round Friday at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

The Llamados (8-3) meet the Bolts at 5:15 p.m. with the former hoping to sustain their strong start in the semis following their two impressive wins.

In the main game, Talk ‘N Text also eyes an important victory to keep its own final bid alive against beleaguered Petron Blaze at 7:30 p.m.

B-MEG is unbeaten in the semis with 2-0 mark and is coming off a hard-earned 104-93 win against the Boosters last Wednesday in a game where Llamados coach Tim Cone was ejected in the first half.

“We’ve had a couple of great wins, but we’ve also played with fire having to come back from such large deficits,” said Cone of his team’s twin wins so far.

“You play with fire, you eventually get burned. We need to get out to better starts,” he added.

Cone knows that their opponent will play with less pressure as the Bolts are already out of contention with 4-7 mark and this concerns him going into the game.

“The Meralco game is a really ‘danger’ game for us. Coach Ryan (Gregorio), for me, is always a tough match up and he will be playing free and easy without pressure,” said Cone.

“Those are always the tough ones to beat when you have a lot on the line. But we know how important this game is for us and we’ll be ready.”

Tropang Texters coach Chot Reyes could be feeling the same way as his 6-5 Talk ‘N Text is in need a win versus a team that is out of contention.

“We have no choice but win our remaining games. We’re in a situation na one miss, we die,” said Reyes, whose team is still in the hunt for the four-of-five incentive to figure in the playoff for the No. 2 slot against the second-best squad after the semis.

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