The PBA Governors Cup finale is now in critical stage, with Magnolia Pambansang Manok taking its second crack at moving in the threshold of winning the crown and Alaska Milk looking to completely turn the pendulum on its side.
It will either be 3-1 for the Hotshots or the Aces forging a deadlock and reducing the best-of-seven series to a best-of-three affair.
The Hotshots and the Aces clash in the pivotal match at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, shortly after the coronation of the Best Player of the Conference and the Best Import.
Christian Standhardinger, Paul Lee and Chris Banchero fight it out for the BPC award while Harris and Travis are the top bets for the Best Import plum.
The Aces stopped the Magnolia charge with a murderous romp in Game Three, 100-71.
They dealt the Hotshots their worst defeat in finals but it's a cause for concern for coach Alex Compton and his chargers as they now expect Magnolia to wage its own determined fightback.
With their own resolve, Compton anticipates another slam-bang showdown in Game Four.
"I'm not into guarantees, but I can almost guarantee there won't be another game like (Game Three). I expect Game Four to be like Game Two," said Compton.
"I don't think (Game Four) would be anything like Game Three. Magnolia is a great team filled with warriors. They're a well-coached team, a talented team with great experience. They're gonna come back and bring everything on Wednesday," Compton also said.
"We're gonna come back with the same intensity, and hopefully we make some shots," added Compton whose team performed superbly on both sides Sunday to foil the Hotshots' bid for a 3-0 series lead.
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Meanwhile, amidst rants of the two coaches on officiating, Magnolia import Romeo Travis conceded they lost the game as they didn't play the right way.
"In the third quarter when the game got away from us, it's pretty much how you lose games. You don't play basketball the right way, you are going to lose," he said.
He rued their team falling into complacency.
"I'd tried to warn the guys and warn myself about complacency -- just thinking that we can show up and win. But we are not good enough to do that. We are not talented enough to just show up. We have to work hard, but they outworked us on both ends and in all facets of the game," said Travis.
But Travis is hopeful they will regroup and fight back.
"They responded (from back-to-back losses in Games One and Two) as we know they would, and it's our turn to respond now," said Travis on what they intend to do in Game Four. (SB)
