Hong Kong Eastern have bigger worries to worry about despite securing a place in the quarter-finals of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the expense of hapless Terrafirma.
The visiting team’s 134-110 victory at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City, while not reflective of how the match played out, came after Chris McLaughlin lost early in the match due to a injury, even as Eastern was reeling from a loss in the opener. a series of semi-finals at home.
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“I think it’s going to be difficult for us, especially if Chris’ injury is serious,” East coach Mensur Bajramovic said.
Eastern improved to 7-3, tying NorthPort and Converge, who are also assured of quarters berths, after a grueling week that began with a victory over San Miguel Beer here in the East Asian Super League .
Now, Eastern will determine whether McLaughlin’s ankle injury, which he suffered while making a dunk against Terrafirma’s Kemark Cariño in the first half, could force Bajramovic back to Cameron Clark.
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Eastern will need to sweep its final two games to have a chance at clinching a top-two spot for a two-to-beat privilege, and not having an import if they rest McLaughlin could be telling.
Clark was Eastern’s import to start the conference, and McLaughlin won’t be able to play for the remainder of the tournament if a change is made, even due to the injury.
McLaughlin entered the competition with impressive numbers of 24.8 points, 18.4 rebounds, four assists, 1.8 steals and 1.8 blocks behind his imposing presence inside and his ability to also make shots exteriors.
It was McLaughlin’s sixth game in the PBA after Clark played the first four for Eastern averaging 32.5 points, 13.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 blocks.
“Both players have different styles,” the East mentor said. “With Chris we have one style and Clark we have another. But they’re both great players and we have good reads with both of them. So we’ll see.
Eastern is about to return home to prepare for the second match of the Hong Kong A1 Championship semi-final series against Winling.
Trailing 0-1 at home
Winling won the best of the first three games of this series, 88-65, after taking advantage of Eastern not being at full strength with only half of its squad playing, the rest being left in Manila to prepare for the Terrafirma match.
Steven Guinchard’s 20 points, built on five triples and a four-pointer, helped spark Eastern’s victory after losing McLaughlin, while Ramon Cao added 23 and Kobey Lam 20. Eastern’s next PBA game will have took place against Magnolia on January 26, before meeting NLEX three days later.
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Terrafirma were on the verge of ending a miserable winless conference after falling to 0-11 with one game remaining in the campaign.
Import Brandon Edwards finished with 26 points and 17 rebounds for the unassuming Dyip.
