The Barangay Ginebra and the NLEX Road Warriors have set up a date in the semifinals of the 2022 PBA Governors’ Cup. Who draws first blood?
Catch this game live on Wednesday, March 23 at 6 pm, Manila time.
The NLEX Road Warriors (0-0)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Kevin Alas
- SG: Kris Rosales
- SF: Paul Varilla
- PF: David Murrell
- C: Cameron Clark
The Road Warriors avoided an upset in the quarterfinals round, as they send the Alaska Aces to retirement with a 96-80 win last Saturday to set up a date with the Barangay in the semis. NLEX has the upper hand in the head-to-head matchup with the Barangay this season, having defeated Ginebra earlier this month during the elimination phase, 115-103. It was still KJ McDaniels who was serving as the Road Warriors import at that time and he led his team with 26 points.
McDaniels’ replacement, Cameron Clark, isn’t too shabby either, as he has averaged 23.5 points in two games with NLEX. Clark doesn’t seem to have any chemistry issues with the Road Warriors, fitting in nicely with the team’s system and local teammates. Speaking of which, NLEX will look to continue getting significant offensive contributions from the likes of Kevin Alas and Kris Rosales. The two combined for 35 points in the first meeting with Ginebra. As a team, NLEX went 15/31 from deep in that game, with Rosales hitting five and Don Trollano four.
The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (0-0)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: LA Tenorio
- SG: Scottie Thompson
- SF: Justin Brownlee
- PF: Christian Standhardinger
- C: Japeth Aguilar
How about them, Gin Kings? Ginebra defied expectations and dominated the TNT Tropang Giga in the quarterfinals to erase a twice-to-beat disadvantage and book a seat in the semis. Ginebra’s defense looked so susceptible towards the end of the elimination round but turned it around against TNT, limiting the Tropang Giga’s top guns. The Barangay have allowed no more than 95 points in two of their last three games. Scottie Thompson has also turned up the heat since the start of the playoffs. He’s actually been playing like a second import for Ginebra.
In last Saturday’s 115-95 win over TNT, Thompson nearly posted a triple-double, with 17 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists. In the first game of that series, Thompson had 23 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists. He’s also been nailing his shots from deep of late. As for Ginebra’s real import in Brownlee, he’s proving the haters wrong with exemplary play in the postseason, having scored a total of 67 points in the TNT series. He dropped 36 on NLEX in a losing effort in the aforementioned early-March meeting.
PREDICTION:
Spread: The Barangay and their legion of fans are on a high after that sensational takedown of TNT. This is a different team that lost to NLEX in the elimination. Taking Ginebra to cover (-3.5).
Over/Under: With how Ginebra’s been defending of late and the expectation that NLEX won’t be drilling 15 threes this time around, I’m going with an Under (204.0) hit.
