MANILA, Philippines – A decisive Game 5 or the conclusion of Game 4? Both of those options are on the table in the Manila Clasico semifinal of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City as Barangay Ginebra goes for the kill and Magnolia battles to survive.

A decisive 103 to 80 victories over the Paul Lee-less Hotshots Sunday at the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo gave the Kings a crucial 2 to 1 lead in the race to three games. As a result, the Kings now possess a virtual twice-to-beat advantage.

Up until that Game 3 sweep in which the Hotshots utterly failed to replace Lee’s services, the series had been a struggle, with neither team having any real lead.

The condition of Lee would have a significant impact on the result, according to Ginebra coach Tim Cone, who is not yet looking past this series.

Paul Lee, who was only able to play for slightly more than two minutes in Game 3 due to the virus, is thought to be very important, according to Cone.

Cone said that his absence “ripped the wind out of their sails” because it’s difficult to make adjustments during a game when you’ve lost your star player—and he really has been their star—and because it’s been very hard for us to stop Paul because he clearly made the key shot (the buzzer-beating winner in the previous game). He’s really giving us a hard time; every time we think we’ve found him, he’s found someone new.

Lee, on the other hand, is certain that he can recover and optimistic that they can make the necessary preparations for a go-for-broke effort in Game 4, which is scheduled at 3pm

We have plenty of time, in my perspective, to recover and prepare, Lee said. Just bear in mind the strategy I’ve envisioned.

The Kings, on the other hand, would be eager to finish the series for a chance at glory either against San Miguel Beer or the Bay Area Dragons.

The holiday season would be the perfect time for Justin Brownlee and his colleagues to grind it out on the court.

The guard LA Tenorio stated, “It’s hard to close out a series, but we’ll try our absolute best to do it.”

We won’t try to move on to Game 5, which obviously has a variety of possible outcomes. Instead, we’ll try to go out and see what we can accomplish in Game 4. We’re going to give Game 4 all we’ve got in an effort to win. He claims.

In the best-of-five semifinals for the 2022–23 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, Ginebra and Bay Area are aiming to defeat the teams they faced on December 21 as they proceed to the SM MOA Arena, Pasay City. After destroying the Paul Lee-less Magnolia Hotshots 103-80 on Sunday night to take a 2-1 series lead, the Gin Kings advanced to the Finals. On the other hand, the Dragons’ series advantage was reduced to 2-1 as a result of their defeat.

Tim Cone, the coach of Ginebra, acknowledged that winning a series against Magnolia, which is still a tough opponent with or without Lee, is the hardest thing for any team to do during the playoffs.

While Bay Area is still a formidable opponent to contend with despite the heartbreaking loss on Sunday, Serbian import Nick Rakocevic is expected to bounce back from his underwhelming 10 points and 12 rebounds performance in Game 3. Veteran players Mark Barroca, Jio Jalalon, Calvin Abueva, and Ian Sangalang will also need to step up significantly as they try to push the series to a rubber match with a win in Game 4. The Dragons, who are still ahead 2-1 in the series, wouldn’t want to give the Beermen an opportunity to rekindle their deadly form of play as Bay Area looks to eliminate the league’s most successful baseball team with a victory in their 5:45 p.m. game. match.