Christmas Day treat: Aces, Kings clash for last semis berth

Instead of enjoying the Christmas celebration, Barangay Ginebra and Alaska will be working their butts off for one last time for the right to clinch the remaining semifinals berth in the PBA Philippine Cup. The Kings and Aces clash on Saturday at the Astrodome in the first playoff match on Christmas Day in eight years. Gametime is at 5 p.m. The best-of-three quarterfinals series between these two teams that have a long history of rivalry came to a decisive showdown after Ginebra, playing with a lot of urgency, cruised to a 94-76 rout of Alaska in Wednesday’s Game 2. In doing so, not only did the Kings tie the affair at one game apiece. They also forged the first significant Christmas Day game in PBA history ever since Coca-Cola bagged the All-Filipino championship at the expense of Alaska in 2002. Alaska coach Tim Cone is surely aware of the kind of pressure both teams are facing, considering that on this day, the Aces and the Kings should be celebrating the holiday with their families. “Christmas is a tough day to have a knockout game, no doubt," Cone said. “But it’s the same for both teams so we’ll both have to live with it. Saying that, it’s going to be difficult to get the players totally focused on the game, and we’ll need that total focus to beat Ginebra. That’s going to be our challenge." His Ginebra counterpart Jong Uichico is only making a single wish on Christmas Eve. “May we have a Merry Christmas." Indeed, Christmas has been merry for the Ginebra franchise in the six times that it played during the holidays, compiling a near flawless 5-1 record, the lone setback inflicted by Talk ‘N Text, 115-104, in the 2006 Fiesta Conference. But the Aces have also had the Kings’ numbers. In their last two series match-ups, Ginebra has not beaten Alaska. In the Philippine Cup last season, the Kings were swept, 4-0, in the semi-finals, then absorbed a 3-2 defeat in the Fiesta Conference’s quarterfinal round. Alaska has also appeared to be at its best whenever its back is against the wall. The Aces won two knockout games last season, including a Game 7 victory over the Tropang Texters in the Fiesta Conference semi-finals. But Tim Cone, the articulate Aces coach, would rather concern himself over how his team will remain focused on a day his players should be fully celebrating with their families. For the Aces to clinch a semis berth, Cone needs to get the best out of top gunners Joe Devance and Cyrus Baguio. After scoring a career-high 30 points in the Aces’ 104-101 win in the series opener, Devance was hardly a factor in the next game, finishing with only seven markers in 39 minutes. He also went 0-of-4 from the three-point area and committed a team-worst four turnovers. For his part, Baguio was held to just 11 points by his former team, including a single point in the second half when the Kings ripped the game apart. The survivor of the Alaska-Ginebra quarterfinal tussle will be in line for a semifinal duel with No. 2 seed San Miguel. – JVP, KY, GMANews.TV