The Barangay Ginebra and the NLEX Warriors are not yet done with their semifinals date, as it will have a Game 4 this Wednesday. Will Barangay close it out? Or will the Road Warriors pull even and force a Game 5?

Catch this game live on Wednesday,  March 30 at 3 pm, Manila time.

The NLEX Road Warriors (1-2)

Projected Starting Five:

  • PG: Matt Nieto
  • SG: Kris Rosales
  • SF: Paul Varilla
  • PF: Justin Chua
  • C: Cameron Clark

Well, at least the Road Warriors aren’t going to be swept in the semis regardless of how the rest of the series shakes out. A big reason for NLEX being still alive was the play of Cameron Clark in Game 3’s 86-85 win. Clark put up his best performance to date in the PBA, pumping out 21 points to go with 17 rebounds. Perhaps even more important was the Road Warriors’ bench showing up, outscoring their Ginebra counterparts by a huge margin, 43-19. 

Head coach Yeng Guiao decided to start rookie Matt Nieto over Kevin Alas, and the latter gave NLEX’s bench a huge boost, scoring 15 points. Raul Soyud also had 11 points off the bench, while Philip Paniamogan hit three triples just when the Road Warriros needed them. Justin Chua’s ability to stretch the floor and play sweet two-man games with the Road Warriors’ guards puzzled Ginebra in Game 3, so look for NLEX to keep giving the big man significant minutes. Getting a win finally in the semifinals could change the complexion of this series and shift the tide in NLEX’s favor.

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The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (2-1)

Projected Starting Five:

  • PG: LA Tenorio
  • SG: Scottie Thompson
  • SF: Justin Brownlee
  • PF: Christian Standhardinger
  • C: Japeth Aguilar (questionable)

That Game 3 loss to NLEX left a bitter taste in the mouth of Ginebra players, especially to LA Tenorio who shot his team in the foot with questionable decisions late in the contest. That being said, Ginebra has full trusts in its players to recover right away. After all, the Barangay were not exactly blown out by NLEX in Game 3, as the contest went down to the last minute. Justin Brownlee is still playing great, having just scored 27 points in a losing effort. 

Ginebra also continued to move the ball well, with 23 assists to just 16 by NLEX. Even without Japeth Aguilar, the Barangay came very close to blanking NLEX. Speaking of Aguilar, the versatile forward has yet to be ruled out of Game 4, so there’s a chance he would appear on the floor this Wednesday to help out the Barangay close out the series. In any case, Tenorio must be aching to get back to action and make up for his blunders in Game 3 that opened the door for an NLEX win. Tenorio had 10 points, nine assists, and four rebounds last Sunday.

PREDICTION:

Spread: We finally have a series. With momentum shifting back to NLEX, the Road Warriors can be expected to play with more confidence and less stiffer in Game 4. Taking the Road Warriots to cover (+3.5) again.

Over/Under: The Barangay slowed down offensively in Game 3 and scoring might get harder for them against a rejuvenated NLEX unit. Taking the Under (191.5).

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