WATCH: Interview with Best Player June Mar Fajardo and Coach Jorge Gallent [May 17, 2024]
San Miguel vs Rain or Shine SF Game 1 | PBA Season 48 Philippine Cup
San Miguel survived Rain or Shine’s gallant stand to notch a 101-98 victory to gain the headstart in their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinals duel at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Beermen got a big scare when their eight-point lead got trimmed to just three and the anxiety grew when Don Trollano airballed a three-point try going to the game’s last 12 seconds.
Good thing SMB’s defense denied the Elasto Painters a clear shot at a triple try, forcing Andrei Caracut to launch a very long one that was straight but a tad too strong.
As a result, the Beermen escaped with the victory that was closer than what most anticipated, but enough to get coach Jorge Gallent into believing only a little more fine-tuning is needed by his side for Game 2 on Sunday at the same venue.
“Tonight it was really good, but we just have to minimize our turnovers,” said Gallent, pinpointing the 16 miscues his team committed that Rain or Shine translated into 14 points.
“We had 16 and that’s really a lot for the team. They just took advantage of that,” added Gallent.
“We just have to minimize that and take care of the ball because if we don’t take care of the ball this is what’s gonna happen. They’re gonna have easy shots and we won’t be able to sprint back down on defense.”