Meralco continues winning streak

Meralco won a third straight game against another solid team Friday night using an age-old, tested formula in doing so: Playing no-nonsense defense.
The Bolts led by as many as 14 points and then hung tough defensively in the stretch to eke out an 82-76 victory over Rain or Shine and assume solo second place in the PBA Governors’ Cup standings at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
John Wilson scored 18 points in starting out at the shooting guard spot and hardworking rookie Cliff Hodge tossed in 17 as the Bolts rose to 4-2 overall despite getting a career-low 17 points from National Basketball Association veteran Mario West.
Rain or Shine dropped to 3-3 as it’s big outside guns were silenced by the unforgiving Meralco defense.
Overall, the Elasto Painters, the defending champions here, shot just 4-of-27 from three-point distance with the streak-shooting Jeff Chan, one of the heroes for the Gilas Pilipinas national quintet, going 0-for-5.
In fact, Chan and last season’s top rookie Paul Lee combined for just seven points. Lee scored 19 points in the last Rain or Shine victory but was 2-of-11 from the field with his last layup – which could have gotten the Painters closer in the end game – being foiled by Chris Ross.
“We really dug deep to find ways to win,” Ryan Gregorio, the eloquent Meralco coach, told reporters minutes after. “It was a defensive struggle and that’s the only way we could win. We (know we) cannot get to 90 points (each game), and our goal is to pretty much not give up 80.” “We’re very happy winning against three big teams,” Gregorio said.
The Bolts had taken down Talk ‘N Text and Alaska before upsetting the Painters and Arizona Reid last night. “But we’re not satisfied. We need to climb the ladder with defense as our strongest armor.” Meanwhile, commissioner Chito Salud fined San Mig Coffee’s Marc Pingris and Globalport rookie Kelly Nabong P60,000 each and suspended them for two games for being the principal figures in an ugly fistfight last Wednesday during their teams’ elimination round game.
A second Batang Pier rookie, Marvin Hayes, was slapped a P20,000 penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct, while Joe Devance of San Mig, the clear instigator of the melee, escaped with a P30,000 fine and a one-game suspension.
Nabong and Pingris, who engaged each other in a mano-a-mano fight, and Devance will start serving their respective suspensions on Sunday when the Mixers and the Batang Pier clash with separate teams.
“With this, it should be clear to everyone that instigators, hotheads and troublemakers have no place in the PBA and will be dealt with severely,” commissioner Chito Salud said in a statement e-mailed to members of the covering media.
“Instigators also deserve special mention, especially those not even directly involved in the immediate action,” he said. “They too will have to bear a heavy price for their act. Finally, I want to remind our players that long after sanctions have been served, your overall conduct’s impression on our youth will continue to last.” Jockeying for position for berths in the top four will be entering its most crucial stages starting Sunday and both the Batang Pier and the Mixers will be up against formidable opponents in Barako Bull and Barangay Ginebra, respectively.
The top four teams will earn twice-to-beat privileges against the bottom four teams in the first round of the playoffs, the quarterfinals. The last two teams after the eliminations will get the boot.