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MANILA, Philippines –The Purefoods Hotshots are preparing for what Coach Tim Cone predicts will be a “whale of a series” against the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters in the semi-finals of the PBA Commissioners Cup.
Purefoods held off a fourth quarter rally by the Alaska Aces Sunday to sweep their best-of-three quarterfinals series and advance to a best-of-five semifinals showdown against the Texters.
“That should be a whale of a series,” said Cone. “They’re playing well, and we’re playing pretty well.”
The Texters advanced to the semi-finals after routing the Barako Bull Energy in their own quarterfinals series, wherein they only needed to win one game, thanks to their twice-to-beat advantage.
Purefoods import Denzel Bowles is also expecting a difficult series against Talk ‘N Text, especially as their lone meeting in the elimination round of the conference was a triple overtime classic that went in the Hotshots’ favor, 118-117.
“I’m sure it’s gonna be like a championship series,” said Bowles, who scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds against Alaska.
“It’s gonna be a fun match, and we’ll see who will out-battle who. I’m sure they want to beat us because of our last game,” he also said, as quoted by PBA.ph.
Bowles is already looking forward to his personal showdown with TNT’s import, Ivan Johnson. “It’s always gonna be a great match-up. He is a great player and a great scorer,” he said.
He believes the Hotshots have a “great chance” to extend their dominance over the Texters this conference.
“We just have to play defense, control the boards, and stay with the shooters,” Bowles said.
Photo: Purefoods/Facebook Page
This story was republished with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com
