THE Star Hotshots did themselves a favor yesterday by beating the Blackwater Elite, 111-95, in a key PBA Philippine Cup match at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay City that had a lot of playoff implications.
By emerging triumphant, the Hotshot improved to 5-4, throwing them back in the quarterfinal picture of the season-opening Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) tournament while dropping the Elite to 5-6 with their playoff chances in doubt.
Tempered in the first quarter by Blackwater, Star busted loose in the second canto behind the hot shooting of Justin Melton and Allein Maliksi to outscore the Elite, 36-16, and turn a six-point deficit at the end of the opening period to a 59-45 lead for them by halftime.
Blackwater came out aggressive in the third quarter, slowly chipping away at Star’s lead and managing to cut it down to three points, 71-68, with less than three minutes left in the period. But Mr. Maliksi would once again bail out the Hotshots with timely baskets to help preserve a 78-70 lead at the end of the third quarter.
With their senses shaken by the Elite’s third-quarter run, the Hotshots made sure not to fall into lapses and allow another run by their opponents.
Mr. Maliksi was once again at the forefront but joined this time around by Gilas Pilipinas pool member Paul Lee as they buried further Blackwater en route to the win.
Mr. Maliksi, who was named player of the game, finished the game with 26 points, going 10-of-17 from the field, and five rebounds. Mr. Lee had 15 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Mr. Melton had 15 while rookie Jio Jalalon had 14 points.
Blackwater, meanwhile, was led by Arthur Dela Cruz with 23 points and six rebounds while Roi Sumang added 13 markers.
“I’m happy that everything fell into place for us tonight. The veterans played well as well as the young players. We need to continue having games like this as we still have important matches ahead. Hopefully we can continue the momentum,” Star coach Chito Victolero said afterwards.
Next for Star is a matchup with the Meralco Bolts on Saturday, Jan. 28, where it has a chance to pad its playoff position while Blackwater, which played final elimination round game, awaits its fate whether it advances or not depending on how the other teams perform in the windup.
As per the Philippine Cup format, the top eight teams from the 12-team field at the end of the elimination round advance to the quarterfinals with the bottom four teams outright eliminated.
To date, the San Miguel Beermen (9-1) are assured of taking the top seat with spots 2 to 8 still to be determined. Already eliminated are Meralco (3-7), Mahindra Floodbuster (2-7) and NLEX Road Warriors (2-7).