Hong Kong Eastern has larger things to fret about despite securing a spot within the quarterfinals of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on the expense of hapless Terrafirma.
The guest team’s 134-110 win at Philsports Arena in Pasig City, though not a mirrored image of how the sport was played, got here after losing import Chris McLaughlin early in the sport to an injury whilst Eastern was reeling from a defeat within the opener of a semifinal series back home.
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“I feel it’s gonna be tough for us, especially if Chris’ injury is serious,” Eastern coach Mensur Bajramovic said.
Eastern improved to 7-3, tying NorthPort and Converge—who’re also assured of quarters seats—after a grueling week that began with a win over San Miguel Beer here within the East Asia Super League.
Now, Eastern will determine if McLaughlin’s ankle injury, which he sustained while going for a dunk against Terrafirma’s Kemark Cariño in the primary half, could force Bajramovic to make a switch back to Cameron Clark.
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Eastern might want to sweep its last two games to have a likelihood at bagging a top two slot for a twice-to-beat privilege, and never having an import in the event that they rest McLaughlin, may very well be telling.
Clark was Eastern’s import to start the conference, and McLaughlin can not suit up for the remainder of the tournament if a change is made even due to injury.
McLaughlin got here into the competition posting impressive numbers of 24.8 points, 18.4 rebounds, 4 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.8 blocks behind his imposing presence inside and his ability to also go for outdoor shots.
It was McLaughlin’s sixth game within the PBA after Clark played the primary 4 for Eastern with averages of 32.5 points, 13.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 blocks.
“Each players have different styles,” the Eastern mentor said. “With Chris, we’ve got one style and Clark, we’ve got one other. But each are great players and we’ve got good reads with each of them. So we are going to see.”
Eastern is about to fly back home to arrange for Game 2 of the Hong Kong A1 Championship semis series against Winling.
Down 0-1 at home
Winling took the best-of-three opener of that series, 88-65, after profiting from Eastern not being in full strength as only half of its roster played with the remainder left behind in Manila to arrange for the Terrafirma game.
Steven Guinchard’s 20 points, built on five triples and one four-pointer, helped spark Eastern’s win after losing McLaughlin, while Ramon Cao added 23 and Kobey Lam 20. Eastern’s next PBA game is against Magnolia on Jan. 26, before they wind up against NLEX three days later.
Terrafirma moved on the point of ending a miserable conference with out a victory after dropping to 0-11 with a game left within the campaign.
Import Brandon Edwards finished with 26 points and 17 rebounds for the lowly Dyip.
