Barangay Ginebra could only be meaner and tougher on the return of Greg Slaughter and Sol Mercado.
Rain or Shine, meanwhile, has to dig deep as the Elasto Painters wait for answers on the disappearance of ace center Raymond Almazan.
Odds are stacked heavily on Ginebra's side as the rampaging Kings tangle with the struggling Elasto Painters in a PBA Governors Cup Petron Blaze Saturday Special at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena.
Game time is at 5 p.m. with Kings to zero in on a twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals while the Elasto Painters are still in search of a first win in five outings.
Leading the race for the Top Four with a 7-1 win-loss card, the reigning Governors Cup back-to-back champs hope to get going as they close out their elims stint against Rain or Shine Saturday, versus Magnolia on Oct. 28 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum and opposite TNT KaTropa on Nov. 4 also at the Big Dome.
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The Kings will have a big advantage in roster power as they welcome back Slaughter and Mercado while the E-Painters wonder on Almazan's whereabouts.
At posting time, Almazan's agent, Danny Espiritu, said his player still had yet to show up or even make any communication.
"The last time I heard from him was before their game against Magnolia. Ako daw magsabi na hindi siya makakarating dahil uuwi siya sa kanila (in Bataan). He has missed two games and hasn't shown up in practice," said Espiritu.
The question is how a badly handicapped ROS side can match up with the red-hot Ginebra side.
With a healthy lineup, Ginebra enjoyed a successful run last conference capped by its conquest of titleholder San Miguel Beer in the title playoff.
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Then even with a badly crippled lineup, the Kings started this tourney with three straight wins before suffering their lone defeat at the hands of the Blackwater Elite, 118-124, on Sept. 21.
They immediately got back on track with back-to-back wins over the San Miguel Beermen (110-102) and the Phoenix Fuel Masters (101-99), then stretched their streak to four games with triumphs over the NLEX Road Warriors (106-92) and the Meralco Bolts (111-105) upon the return of Japeth Aguilar.
Justin Brownlee, LA Tenorio and Scottie Thompson are leading the way for the Kings, with strong support from Aljon Mariano, Kevin Ferrer and Prince Caperal - shock-troopers who are making the most of the minutes they enjoy at the moment.
Brownlee has sustained his deadly form from his previous PBA stints, averaging 33.38 points, 12.25 rebounds and 6.13 assists, Tenorio is as steady as ever with norms of 11.7 markers, 5.3 dish-offs and 2.7 boards while Thompson is a great energy source that puts in 9.6 rebounds, 7.13 points and 7.0 assists an outing.
And the Gin Kings have other players who can step up in a game.
There's Mark Caguioa who sparkled with 16 points to hit the 10,000-point plateau in their 14-point drubbing of NLEX on Friday at the Big Dome.
Then there's Japeth Aguilar coming through with a personal conference high of 31 points, including highlight shots at endgame as the Kings topped the Meralco Bolts Sunday. On his comeback in the previous game, the 6-foot-9 center/forward fired 17 markers.
Then add what Slaughter and Mercado can put up in their return.(SB)
