Wednesday, January 03, 2007 PBA Giants, Realtors eye quarters berth
A BATTLE-royale is expected when Purefoods Chunkee Giants and Sta. Lucia Realty face each other tonight for an outright quarterfinals berth in the Talk n Text-PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome. Gametime is at 7 p.m.
Both teams have cancelled holiday vacations and instead hit the courts for practice, realizing the importance of tonight's game.
The winner will earn the last outright seat in the quarterfinals of the PBA's centerpiece event. The loser will join the Alaska Aces, Air 21 Express and the Coca-Cola Tigers in the wildcard phase.
"It's now a reality we have to face. We've been working hard in practice and we'll give it our best shot," said Sta. Lucia coach Alfrancis Chua.
Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio said: "We don't talk about the past and we just look forward to coming out hard on January 3."
The two coaches expect a tough battle, just like their first two games that were decided by no more than four points.
"Our two victories were far from convincing. Both boiled down to endgame executions," Gregorio said, adding Giants went through the proverbial eye of the needle in winning both games.
