Saturday 12 May 2012, 7pm local time tip off, Thai Japanese Association Gym, Bangkok, Thailand.
AirAsia Philippine Patriotsâ€™ leading scorer Anthony JohnsonÂ playedÂ through a groin injuryÂ andÂ scored 26 points in the 90-84 win over JobStreet.com Singapore Slingers last Saturday.Â
â€śWe are not actually forcing Johnson to play his all since heâ€™s not yet 100% from a groin injury heâ€™s nursing but heâ€™s just competitive.â€ť said Patriots coach Glenn CapacioÂ after the game.Â
The Patriots were down 53-64 early in the fourth quarter before Johnson sparked a comeback by scoring 20 points and helped to secure Patriotsâ€™ 15th win of the season. Nakiea Miller contributed a double-double for the Patriots with 20 points and 11 rebounds.Â
â€śWeâ€™re struggling in the first three quartersÂ but Iâ€™m happy the boys played well down the stretch. Itâ€™s really hard to motivate the team since we are already in the playoffs. Luckily, they responded in the second half.â€ť saidÂ Coach Capacio.Â
Although the results from the game wonâ€™t affect the standings,Â Coach CapacioÂ will wantÂ his team to close the regularÂ season outÂ with a win over the Chang Thailand Slammers on Saturday to carry a momentum going into the first game in the playoffs.Â â€śWe need to have the winning mood going into the semis series so itâ€™s going to be business as usual for all of us,â€ťÂ said Coach Capacio. â€śOur main objective now is to gear up for theÂ playoffs.Â We need to be in sharp form because winning Game 1 of the series will be important.â€ť
The Patriots can sweep the season series against the Slammers with a win atÂ theÂ Thai Japanese Association Gym on Saturday. In their last meeting at Ynares Sports Arena, the Patriots got a huge 89-68 win over the Slammers. Calvin Williams ledÂ all scoringÂ with 27 points and 20 rebounds for the Slammers in the loss.Â
It has been a rocky season for the defending champions this season but Slammersâ€™ coach Felton Sealey would love to close their season with a win. The Slammers has not have any luck latelyÂ and will be coming in off aÂ 94-79Â lossÂ to the Westports Malaysia Dragons.