Tag: best bets

Meralco wins first PBA title, survives San Miguel in Game 6

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Meralco Bolts celebrate after winning their first-ever PBA title.–MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines–Call them the “Miracle Bolts.”

Against a battle-tested enemy so used to playing on a pressured-packed stage, the Bolts on Sunday stunned San Miguel, 80-78, to rule the PBA Philippine Cup.

Chris Newsome hit a fadeaway jumper with 1.3 remaining to cap Meralco’s stand at Smart Araneta Coliseum, finishing off the much-fancied defending champions in six tightly contested games.

READ: PBA Finals: ‘Nobody remembers second place,’ says Meralco coach Trillo

Allein Maliksi was just as big in the clincher, delivering 14 points to backstop Newsome’s 15 which also helped the club to its first-ever title in Asia’s pioneering pro league.

Bong Quinto had 11 points, Chris Banchero 10, Raymond Almazan nine while Cliff Hodge, Anjo Caram, and Norbert Torres pumped in six points each.

June Mar Fajardo, earlier crowned the Best Player of the Conference, tied the game at 78-all with 3.3 ticks remaining, almost willing the Beermen back and dragging the Bolts to a deciding Game 7. He finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds.

READ: PBA Finals: Unable to stop June Mar, Meralco still finds way to win

CJ Perez tossed in 14 points, Marcio Lassiter 11, Mo Tautuaa 10. Terrence Romeo added nine, Don Trollano seven, and Simon Enciso five off the bench.

Sunday’s triumph marks the first time Meralco was at the basketball mountaintop since ruling the Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association, a precursor of the PBA, in 1971.



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Chris Newsome repays Meralco ‘faith’ with title-clinching shot

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Meralco Bolts’ Chris Newsome celebrates after leading his team to the PBA Philippine Cup championship.-MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Meralco couldn’t have hoped for any other player than Chris Newsome to hold the ball in the endgame of Game 6 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals.

Newsome showed why after he nailed the game-clinching shot to deliver the Bolts’ first-ever PBA title on Sunday night.

“New has been in that situation a lot of times,” said Meralco coach Luigi Trillo, who won his second title as a PBA coach after claiming his first with Alaska in 2013, after the Bolts’ 80-78 escape in Game 6.

READ: Finals MVP Chris Newsome leads Meralco breakthrough PBA title win

“We have faith in him, he’s a special player in taking that fadeaway.”

Newsome’s clutch corner jumper came after June Mar Fajardo’s rare triple knotted the count at 78 with 3.3 seconds remaining.

Fajardo, who posted 21 points and 12 rebounds, tried to answer back but misfired on his 3-point try as time expired.

Newsome, who was hailed Finals MVP, finished with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists.

“You have to give it to San Miguel. We were up with some seconds left and they had no quit. I’m just very proud of New because he’s done that a lot of times.”



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Conor McGregor says he will return to UFC after injury recovery

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FILE – Conor McGregor prepares to fight Dustin Poirier in a UFC 264 lightweight mixed martial arts bout July 10, 2021, in Las Vegas. McGregor will not compete in UFC 303 on Saturday, June 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. He has indicated he is injured. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

LAS VEGAS — In his first public comments since pulling out of UFC 303 on Thursday because of an undisclosed injury, Conor McGregor called it a postponement rather than a cancellation of his fight with Michael Chandler that had been scheduled for later this month.

McGregor said Saturday that he was injured shortly before his scheduled June 3 news conference in Dublin. The news conference was abruptly canceled, creating speculation that McGregor might not fight in the June 29 bout in Las Vegas.

“The decision to postpone the fight was not made lightly, but one made in consultation with my doctors, the UFC, and my team,” McGregor posted on X.

READ: Conor McGregor says he’s returning to UFC octagon vs Michael Chandler

“My fans and opponent deserve me at my best for this fight and we will get there! Thank you for the messages of support, I am in good spirits and confident I’ll be back!”

Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira will face top-ranked challenger Jiri Prochazka in the main event in place of the McGregor-Chandler match.

There also was a change with the co-main event. An injury forced light heavyweight contender Jamahal Hill to drop out, and Carlos Ulberg will face replacement Anthony Smith.



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Celtics take season’s worth of lessons into Game 5

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Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) drives against Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II (2) during the first half in Game 4 of the NBA basketball finals, Friday, June 14, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Sam Hodde)

BOSTON — The Celtics picked the most inopportune time to play their worst game of the season.

Boston’s 122-84 Game 4 loss to Dallas had all kinds of superlatives, and none of them were good.

It ended the Celtics’ 10-game playoff win streak. It was the Celtics’ lowest scoring output of the season and marked the first time the Celtics have allowed the Mavericks to eclipse 100 points in the series on a stellar night for Dallas stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

READ: NBA Finals: Luka Doncic learning in first NBA Finals but not conceding to Celtics

It also reminded the Celtics that putting a championship bow on what has been one of the franchise’s most successful seasons will require the same resilience they’ve shown during a postseason in which they haven’t lost consecutive games.

“It’s a learning lesson, for sure. Got to show up and show out every night. They’re not going to roll over,” Celtics reserve Sam Hauser said. “They’re down 3-1 now. They’re desperate. … They’re not going to make it easy on us.”

As humbling as Game 4’s loss was, history will be on the Celtics’ side for Game 5.

While Friday’s loss was the seventh time that the Celtics have lost by 20 or more points in the finals, they are 5-1 in the previous six.

The game Monday also falls on the 16th anniversary of Boston clinching its last championship in 2008.

“It’s a great opportunity to respond,” said Celtics forward Jaylen Brown, who finished Game 4 with a minus-19 plus-minus – his second-worst of these playoffs and third-worst of his entire playoff career. “We just regroup. We keep our same mentality, and we come out and get ready to fight in another battle on our home floor.”

READ: NBA Finals: Mavericks crush Celtics to avoid sweep

It’s also the latest chance for coach Joe Mazzulla to reinforce the lessons he has tried to instill in his team. Hauser recalled Boston’s Game 3 win when Dallas rallied to cut a 21-point fourth quarter lead to just one with less than four minutes to play.

“The Mavs were on that big run, the start of the fourth there. He came in and said, ‘That was great. That makes us hungrier,’” Hauser said. “He didn’t even focus on the win, he focused on that, which was cool. It keeps all of us grounded and knowing that we have more work to do.”

It was the same tone Mazzulla tried to set during the regular season.

Boston opened the season by winning its first five games before losing in overtime at Minnesota. Postgame Mazzulla expressed excitement for his team experiencing an opponent challenging it to play its best basketball. Following another loss two nights later at Philadelphia, the Celtics reeled off six straight victories.

In February, the Celtics lost on their home court to a Los Angeles Lakers team without both LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Then Boston reeled off a season-high 11-game win streak.

The Celtics are now just one more bounce-back win away from seeing those instances of adversity bear championship fruit.

If they need any more consolation — each of the Celtics previous three title-winning teams in 1984, 1986 and 2008 all lost with close-out opportunities on the road and then returned to win at home.

“Close-out games are hard. Close-out games are tough,” Brown said. “They always have been like that, and you’ve got to have extreme focus. You’ve got to come out and meet their intensity to finish things out.”

Jayson Tatum is expecting the TD Garden crowd to bring the energy to match the moment.



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“I think it’s going to be as loud as it’s ever been in my seven years of being a Celtic,” he said. “Excited to go back home. Celebrate Father’s Day on Sunday and compete for a championship on Monday.”

Facing deficit nothing new for deadlock-seeking San Miguel Beer

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June Mar Fajardo and the San Miguel Beermen in Game 5 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals against Meralco Bolts. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

San Miguel Beer is in a precarious, yet familiar predicament which it will try to overcome in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals when it stands up to Meralco’s first of two chances to end its long search for a championship.

Game 6 is set 6:15 p.m. on Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum, where the defending champion Beermen will try to solve the woes that allowed the Bolts to seize a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series two nights earlier.

“For sure we will bounce back in the next game,” June Mar Fajardo said as San Miguel eyes a repeat of similar scenarios in past championship runs.

Fell short twice

It’s the fourth time that San Miguel is in a virtual twice-to-win scenario in a Finals in Fajardo’s well-documented career in the big league, eventually hoisting a title on two of those occasions.

The Beermen defeated the Magnolia Hotshots after losing Game 5 to win the 2019 Philippine Cup, before doing the same three years in the same conference by taking down the TNT Tropang Giga.

Fajardo wound up getting the Finals MVP award from the PBA Press Corps on both occasions.

But Fajardo also fell short twice, back in the 2013 Governors’ Cup in his rookie season and when the Beermen were known as the Petron Blaze Boosters, falling short to the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers in seven games.

In the 2018 Commissioner’s Cup, the Beermen ended up with the runner-up trophy as well after Barangay Ginebra overcame a 2-1 deficit, taking the next three to emerge victorious.



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Trillo: ‘Nobody remembers second place’

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Meralco Bolts in Game 5 of the PBA philippine Cup Finals against San Miguel Beermen. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Now that they are within a win of their first-ever PBA championship, the Meralco Bolts are determined to not let a golden opportunity slip away.

Their first chance to close the series out is on Sunday night in Game 6 of the Philippine Cup Finals at Smart Araneta Coliseum, where the franchise that endured so many title heartbreaks can make those defeats a distant memory with another victory over the favored San Miguel Beermen.

“Nobody remembers second place. You got to win one to gain respect,” coach Luigi Trillo said late Friday after the Bolts took Game 5, 92-88, for a 3-2 lead in the series.

History favors Meralco since 15 of 19 teams in the last 12 years that won a Game 5 to take a pivotal advantage in the Finals have gone on to wrest the championship trophy.

But San Miguel is no stranger to overcoming such a precarious deficit, winning the titles in the 2019 and 2022 Philippine Cup against Magnolia and TNT, respectively, in a series-comebacking fashion.

And the Beermen have dug themselves out of an even deeper hole before, erasing a 0-3 deficit in the 2015-2016 Philippine Cup Finals to stun Alaska and emerge victorious.

Clank after clank

The potential clincher or potential setup to a deciding Game 7 will see if the Bolts can finally get the job after falling short in four previous Finals appearances, all against Barangay Ginebra.

Meralco, under the collective tutelage of Trillo, active consultant Nenad Vucinic and the rest of the coaching staff, has practically dictated the tempo of the series with its defense, preventing San Miguel from scoring at least 90 points in all its three wins.

The only time San Miguel even breached the 100-point mark was when the Beermen put up 111 in a Game 4 triumph on Independence Day.

Chris Newsome bucked early struggles to deliver when it mattered most, then got plenty of offensive help—especially from Allein Maliksi, who was fueled by news articles calling out his Game 4 scoring woes and matched the Meralco leader with 22 points.

Also key were the Bolts’ defensive stand, that made the Beermen supporting cast endure clank after clank while leaving June Mar Fajardo to carry the load with his season-high 38 points.

If Meralco once again succeeds in making things uncomfortable for its opponent, while getting shots from multiple sources other than Newsome or any of its key players, it could be a likelihood that the Jun Bernardo Perpetual Trophy could be lifted at game’s end.

“We’re ready,” said Trillo. “It’s our first all-Filipino chance and we have to relish these situations. But we know San Miguel is capable [of coming back].



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“Clearly, [the series] is defined on what they want to do, and it’s defined by what we want to do. But that’s the beauty of it. They have their offense and we have our defense. We just need to be locked in to come out and play.”

With dream within reach, Bong Quinto draws from experience

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Meralco Bolts guard Bong Quinto in Game 5 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Meralco guard Bong Quinto likened his current situation in the PBA Philippine Cup Finals to his experience at the collegiate level.

On Friday at Araneta Coliseum, the Bolts moved one win away from taking their first PBA championship which has proved elusive since their emergence in the league.

Quinto’s in quite the familiar scenario.

READ: PBA Finals: Meralco needs to ‘play with poise’ to close out San Miguel

Back in 2015, Quinto played collegiate ball for Letran as a second-year shooting guard.

In the Knights’ Finals series with San Beda in that NCAA season, Letran won the first game and immediately smelled blood in the water with the NCAA championship in their sights.

Unfortunately for the Aldin Ayo-led squad, coach Jamike Jarin and the Red Lions unloaded a huge Game 2 effort which forced a deciding game for the Season 91 championship.

“Back in Letran, we were first [to win], 1-0. Then, it became 1-1 which reached a Game 3. That one had an overtime,” recalled Quinto at Araneta Coliseum on Friday after their 92-88 win over San Miguel in Game 5 to take the pivotal 3-2 lead.

Meralco Bolts in Game 5 of the PBA philippine Cup Finals against San Miguel Beermen

Meralco Bolts in Game 5 of the PBA philippine Cup Finals against San Miguel Beermen. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Letran eventually won the championship that was already within its grasp but the Knights had to withstand five extra minutes with San Beda in a thrilling 85-82 victory.

Quinto hopes to have the same victorious ending this time and the Bolts have two chances to close out the mighty Beermen with the PBA Finals now a virtual best-of-three series

READ: PBA Finals: History on the side of Meralco Bolts after Game 5 win

But he’s well aware that the PBA Finals is a different beast. A beast that he has hoped to conquer since he was a little kid.

“This is different because this is my dream. Before Letran, this was already my dream since I was a kid, to experience a championship in the PBA, at the same time, it’s also All-Filipino.”

Quinto silently chipped in eight points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win that pushed the Bolts to one win away from the elusive championship.

But while Quinto and the Bolts just need one victory to achieve history, he has certainly learned from his experiences in Letran.

“I don’t want to celebrate yet, honestly. Even if we have an advantage, it’s not over until this series is over. I’ve also been sleepless for how many nights now, from [our series against] Ginebra until now. I’m just so excited that I have an opportunity to play in every game.”

“I’m not wasting this because when you think about it, we just need one more win, right? This has been my dream and the dreams that my family has for me and it might be fulfilled.”



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Quinto hopes to bring his dream to full circle on Sunday at the same venue at 6:15 pm.

Unable to stop June Mar, Meralco still finds way to win

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Meralco Bolts’ Raymond Almazan and San Miguel Beermen’s June Mar Fajardo during the PBA Philippine Cup Finals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—A win’s a win, no matter the cost.

In the case of Meralco in Game 5 of the PBA Philippine Cup Finals, the Bolts won 92-88, to take the commanding 3-2 lead despite allowing Beermen star June Mar Fajardo to go off for 38 points and 18 rebounds.

Raymond Almazan wouldn’t have it any other way, though.

READ: PBA Finals: Meralco needs to ‘play with poise’ to close out San Miguel

“If you’ll ask me, I’ll trade that [performance] for a win,” said Almazan in Filipino at Araneta Coliseum on Friday. “He can even score 60 as long as we win.”

Almazan dropped 14 points and four rebounds in the crucial game but he got the last laugh over Fajardo who had a better shooting night.

While Almazan didn’t have the most dynamic night on offense, it was his defense that helped Meralco move to the cusp of making history.

And it wasn’t just Almazan, too, who had a hand in tiring out the Best Player of the Conference awardee.

READ: PBA Finals: June Mar Fajardo confident San Miguel will bounce back

The Bolts seemingly found the fix to San Miguel’s puzzle and one of the things they found effective was to put multiple bigs on Fajardo, including Almazan.

“What coach (Luigi Trillo) tells us is, if he scores, we run. If we foul and foul, he’s going to get some rest and we wouldn’t be able to run,” explained the lanky center.

Make no mistakes about it, though. It wasn’t easy to contain the seven-time MVP no matter how many bodies you put on him.

“June Mar’s heavy, he’s what, 260? Meanwhile, I’m at 220 but still trying my best to stop or at least limit him,” Almazan said.



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“It’s hard to stop him a lot. On his off night, he had 12 points and 15 rebounds. Off night pa ‘yon ah?”

Luka Doncic, Mavericks crush Celtics to avoid sweep

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Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) and center Dereck Lively II (2) prepare their defense against the Boston Celtics during the first half in Game 4 of the NBA basketball finals, Friday, June 14, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

DALLAS— Luka Doncic scored 25 of his 29 points in the first half, Kyrie Irving added 21 points and the Dallas Mavericks emphatically extended their season on Friday night, fending off elimination by beating the Boston Celtics 122-84 in Game 4 of the NBA Finals.

The Mavs’ stars were done by the end of the third quarter, with good reason. It was all Dallas from the outset, the Mavs leading by 13 after one quarter, 26 at the half and by as many as 38 in the third before both sides emptied the benches.

The 38-point final margin was the third-biggest ever in an NBA Finals game, behind only Chicago beating Utah 96-54 in 1998 and the Celtics beating the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92 in 2008.

READ: Luka Doncic learning in first NBA Finals, but not conceding to Celtics

Before Friday, the worst NBA Finals loss for the 17-time champion Celtics was 137-104 to the Lakers in 1984. This was worse. Much worse, at times. Dallas’ biggest lead in the fourth was 48 — the biggest deficit the Celtics have faced all season.

The Celtics still lead the series 3-1, and Game 5 is in Boston on Monday.

The loss — Boston’s first in five weeks — snapped the Celtics’ franchise-record, 10-game postseason winning streak, plus took away the chance they had at being the first team in NBA history to win both the conference finals and the finals in 4-0 sweeps.

Jayson Tatum scored 15 points, Sam Hauser had 14 while Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday each finished with 10 for the Celtics.

Dallas Mavericks Dereck Lively NBA Finals Mavericks vs Celtics

Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II (2) celebrates a score against the Boston Celtics during the second half in Game 4 of the NBA basketball finals, Friday, June 14, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 15 points, all in the fourth quarter, and Dereck Lively II had 11 points and 12 rebounds for Dallas. It was Lively who provided the hint that it was going to be a good night for the Mavs in the early going. He connected on a 3-pointer — the first of his NBA career — midway through the first quarter, a shot that gave the Mavs the lead for good.

READ: ‘Fun’ key to Mavs’ bid for unprecedented NBA Finals comebac–Doncic

And they were off and running from there. And kept running.

It was 61-35 at the half and Dallas left a ton of points unclaimed in the opening 24 minutes as well. The Mavs went into the break having shot only 5 of 15 from 3-point range, 10 of 16 from the foul line — and they were in total control anyway.

The lowlights for Boston were many, some of them historic:

— The 35 points represented the Celtics’ lowest-scoring total in a half, either half, in Joe Mazzulla’s two seasons as coach.

— The 26-point halftime deficit was Boston’s second biggest of the season. The Celtics trailed Milwaukee by 37 at the break on Jan. 11, one of only eight instances in their first 99 games of this season where they trailed by double figures at halftime.

— The halftime deficit was Boston’s largest ever in an NBA Finals game, and the 35-point number was the second-worst by the Celtics in the first half of one. They managed 31 against the Lakers on June 15, 2010, Game 6 of the series that the Lakers claimed with a Game 7 victory.

Teams with a lead of 23 or more points at halftime, even in this season where comebacks looked easier than ever before, were 76-0 this season entering Friday night.

Make it 77-0 now. Doncic’s jersey number, coincidentally enough.

The Celtics surely were thinking about how making a little dent in the Dallas lead to open the second half could have made things interesting. Instead, the Mavs put things away and fast; a 15-7 run over the first 4:32 of the third pushed Dallas’ lead out to 76-42.

Whatever hope Boston had of a pulling off a huge rally and capping off a sweep was long gone. Mazzulla pulled the starters, all of them, simultaneously with 3:18 left in the third and Dallas leading 88-52.



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The Mavs still have the steepest climb possible in this series, but the first step was done.