It’s an exciting battle of imports as Merlaco’s Allen Durham goes head-to-head against TNT’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.

Catch the game this Thursday, August 22nd, at 7:30 PM.

Meralco Bolts (1-0)

Starting five:

• Christopher Banchero
• Allein Maliksi
• Chris Newsome
• Allen Durham
• Raymond Almazan

The Bolts opened the Governor’s Cup with a 99-94 victory over the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots. They didn’t particularly shine on offense or defense, but the effort is good enough, and a win is a win. It was also historical as their very own Chris Banchero, made the first-ever 4-point field goal in PBA history.

Import Allen Durham went 7-of-18 from the floor for a team-high 20 points while also hauling in 16 rebounds. Let’s see if he does better tomorrow in a marquee matchup. He’s a hardworker that can body anyone, so expect a more efficient performance from him.

A trio of guards became Durham’s biggest aids, with Banchero scoring 14, Chris Newsome adding 13, and Jolo Mendoza coming off the bench for 13 points, 3-of-3 from three and 1-of-1 from four. While the two vets are aiming to step up, Mendoza will be more intriguing as he has built some confidence on his shot.

Meralco has a good offensive attack with an up-and-down defensive team. It’ll be interesting to see their approach against a similarly structured TNT squad.

TNT Tropang Giga (1-0)

Starting five:

• Rey Nambatac
• RR Pogoy
• Calvin Oftana
• Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
• Kelly Williams

Defending Governor’s Cup champions TNT also collected a win in its conference debut. They beat NorthPort Batang Pier on Tuesday, 101-95, a good start for their title defense.

As always, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson led the way as he blasted away 32 points in display of his offensive repertoire, adding 10 boards and five dimes. He’ll be sure to maintain that edge in this matchup opposite the Bolts, especially Durham and other opposing bigs.

RHJ should be able to get plenty of help courtesy of stretch forward Calvin Oftana, sharpshooter RR Pogoy, defensive guard Rey Nambatac, and veteran Kelly Williams, among others. It’s a well-rounded group that will be ready to show why they won last year.

TNT boasts quite the weapon in RHJ, who can just score relentlessly and also fill up the statsheet, which becomes more dangerous if his teammates are able to complement his play again.

PICKS:

Spread: Meralco (-1.5)

Over/Under: Over (202.5)