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PBA: Black fears Almazan out for rest of Finals

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/sports/01/12/almazan.jpg"/><figcaption>Meralco&#x27;s Raymond Almazan (20) suffered an injury in the first quarter of Game 3. PBA Media Bureau.</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA - The Meralco Bolts suffered a double whammy in Game 3 of the PBA Governors&#x27; Cup Finals against the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings.Not only did they absorb a 92-84 defeat to go down 1-2 in the best-of-seven series, but they may have also lost starting center Raymond Almazan for the rest of the Finals.This, according to Meralco head coach Norman Black.&quot;We found out at halftime, we probably would lose Raymond for the rest of the game and possibly for the rest of the series,&quot; Black said after their defeat, Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.Almazan suffered a knee injury midway through the first period, as he crashed to the court after attacking the hoop. Replays showed he banged his knee against Ginebra point guard LA Tenorio, and it took him a while to get up.He eventually left the Big Dome at the half to get an MRI, but Black was worried that the injury is significantly worse than a knee strain, as was the initial diagnosis.&quot;When I talked to him at halftime of the game, he couldn&#x27;t move his leg,&quot; said Black. &quot;Being a former player myself, that&#x27;s never a good sign.&quot; &quot;I&#x27;ll try to be as positive as possible, and hopefully he&#x27;ll be okay, but from being a player myself, having a swollen knee in the middle of a championship series is not something you can just bounce back from that easily,&quot; he said.The Bolts immediately felt the impact of Almazan&#x27;s absence. Without the lanky big man to bother him, Ginebra&#x27;s Japeth Aguilar had free reign, going off for 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Stanley Pringle also found his touch inside the paint, and scored 17 of his 21 points in the third quarter to key Ginebra&#x27;s breakaway.Moreover, the news of Almazan&#x27;s injury seemed to affect the Bolts&#x27; morale, said Black.&quot;We came out of the locker room very flat,&quot; said Black. &quot;I don&#x27;t know for sure how much they were affected by the news, but it seemed to affect them going to the third quarter.&quot; &quot;Ginebra did a good job of jumping on top of us immediately, taking advantage of it, and taking control of the game,&quot; he added.Black and the Meralco coaching staff have two days to figure out how they will adjust to Almazan&#x27;s absence. Bryan Faundo gave them a lift in Game 3, scoring 10 points off the bench in 13 minutes, while Cliff Hodge logged nearly 29 minutes of action.&quot;We just have to try to make as many adjustments as we can, just in case we play without Raymond, and be ready in the next game,&quot; said Black.&quot;Without (Almazan), we almost got a little bit of a hole in the middle. So we just have to try to find a way to camouflage or at least try to fix it,&quot; he added. Game 4 is on Wednesday at the Araneta Coliseum, with the Bolts looking to knot up the series at two games apiece.

The Meralco Bolts suffered a double whammy in Game 3 of the PBA Governors' Cup Finals against the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings.

The Meralco Bolts suffered a double whammy in Game 3 of the PBA Governors' Cup Finals against the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings.

PBA: Black fears Almazan out for rest of Finals

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PBA: Black fears Almazan out for rest of Finals

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published January 13, 2020 12:07 AM PHT

Read More:

PBA

PBA Governors' Cup

Barangay Ginebra

Meralco Bolts

Raymond Almazan

Norman Black

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