Meralco, Magnolia eye bounce back win

MERALCO and Magnolia aim for separate bounce back victories as both squads take on separate foes in a pair of important games in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup on Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Malate, Manila.The Bolts (4-2) take on the NLEX Road Warriors (3-4) at 7:30 p.m. following the match between the Hotshots (2-5) and the Terrafirma Dyip (0-8) at 5 p.m.Meralco is coming off a tough 101-99 loss to TNT on Tuesday.The Bolts, though, have learned tons of lessons from that game against the Tropang Giga, who saw their 18-point lead go to waste in the face of a furious rally by Meralco.But in the end, TNT proved to be the steadier team with Roger Pogoy and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson making clutch plays to hand Meralco its second loss in the tournament.Still, the Bolts are a resilient bunch, and their Philippine Cup championship last year have given them the experience that will allow them to bounce back against the Road Warriors, who are on a three-game losing slump.Meanwhile, Magnolia hopes to start the New Year right, and what better way than to get a win against league doormat Terrafirma.The Hotshots closed 2024 with a painful 95-92 loss to fierce rivals Barangay Ginebra Kings.Scottie Thompson buried the game-winning three from the corner to secure the Christmas Day Clasico win.Magnolia is tied with Phoenix at 10th in the standings with similar 2-5 record.In order to revive their playoff hopes, the Hotshots will have to start winning, with no less than a concerted effort and consistency on defense needed from the players to make this possible.