Both the Blackwater Bossing and the Meralco Bolts are riding a two-game win streak, but one team is about to see its hot stretch end this Friday. Will the Bossing ruin Meralco’s momentum? Or, will the Bolts cut of Blackwater’s power?
Catch this game live on Friday, July 14 at 5:00 pm, Manila time.
Blackwater Bossing (5-3)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: JVee Casio
- SG: Rey Suerte
- SF: Rashawn Mccarthy
- PF: James Sena
- C: Troy Rosario
Blackwater is having a generally successful PBA on Tour campaign, so far. The Bossing are trying to establish a winning culture, and based on their recent games, they are making great headway to the end, as they have won both of their last couple of games.
In their most recent outing, the Bossing escaped with a 103-101 victory against the San Miguel Beermen on July 2. Troy Rosario is finding his footing and playing closer and closer to his old self. Rosario, who put up 19 points on 7/9 shooting from the field (7/7 2FGM/A), is leading Blackwater in the PBA on Tour with 16.3 points per game.
Mike DiGregorio could be the surprise package for Blackwater this Friday. He should still be feeling it after scoring 13 points in just 13 minutes in the victory over the Beermen. The Bossing are shooting relatively well from deep, knocking down 11.13 threes per game on 36 percent accuracy.
Meralco Bolts (6-3)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Diego Dario
- SG: Kier Quinto
- SF: Allein Maliksi
- PF: Cliff Hodge
- C: Raymond Almazan
Just as hot at the moment as Blackwater is Meralco, which is on a two-game win streak as well following a 96-83 beatdown of the NLEX Road Warriors last Wednesday. Before that, the Bolts turned off the switch on the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in a 106-93 victory on July 5.
Meralco’s defense is doing just fine based on its recent games, and a big reason for that is its relentless showing on the glass. The Bolts are leading all teams in the PBA on Tour with 50.78 rebounds per game.
They’re shooting just 49 percent from the field and 31 percent from behind the arc, but they’re not allowing opponents to capitalize on many of their misses because Meralco is also tops in the PBA with 18.78 rebounds per contest. Conversely, Blackwater is third-worst with 30.13 defensive rebounds per outing.
PREDICTION:
Spread: Meralco (-7.5) covers the spread.
Over/Under: The total (195.0) hits the Under.
