The NLEX Road Warriors are hunting for more wins in order to improve their hopes of making it to the playoffs. They will look to get a W Friday night against the San Miguel Beermen, who just lost last night.

Catch this game live on November 6 at 4:00 pm, Manila time.

The NLEX Road Warriors  (3-5)

The Road Warriors are showing signs of life. Done with being just roadkill for other teams, NLEX has won its last two games, both against legitimate title contenders. Following their win over the TNT Tropang Giga on Oct. 29, Yeng Guiao’s men scored a 94-74 win against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Wednesday night.

Guiao believes that the success of his team of late is due to his players’ improving shape, and it shows in their defense, especially. The Road Warriors have allowed just 86.0 points over their last two games and held opponents to only 38.9 FG%.

Also factoring into NLEX’s resurgence is the play of Kevin Alas, who’s starting to get his pre-injury form. Alas is averaging 16.2 points this conference but has scored 42 points in the last two games. Alas, who usually comes off the bench for NLEX, is a big reason why the Road Warriors are second in the league in bench points per game with 43.1.

The San Miguel Beermen  (5-3)

The Beermen smashed into a wall in the form of the Phoenix Fuel Masters Thursday night, as they saw their four-game unbeaten run in a 110-103 loss to RJ Jazul and company.

With their loss, the Beermen wasted the collective efforts of Alex Cabagnot, Marcio Lassiter, and Mo Tautua, who each scored at least 20 points. Tautuaa led all San Miguel scorers with 21 points to go with five rebounds and five assists in 30 minutes.

San Miguel simply couldn’t stop the Fuel Master from making it rain from downtown. Phoenix went bonkers with a 22-of-51 (41%) shooting from long range. Conversely, the Beermen went just 10-of-33 (30%) from deep. But the Beermen may not have to worry much about NLEX’s outside shooting, as the Road Masters are fourth-worst in this conference with just 30.6 3FG%

The Beermen have defeated NLEX in the two teams’ last couple of meetings, dating back to the 2019 Commissioner’s Cup.

PREDICTION:

Expect the Beermen to fare better defensively against NLEX, which, as mentioned, doesn’t shoot well beyond the arc. The Beermen, who entered Thursday’s game against Phoenix with a 95.3 defensive rating, will beat NLEX, 94-89.