San Miguel eager to level semis series vs TNT after close Game 1 loss

The San Miguel Beermen are eager to quickly level the series against TNT after suffering an 89-88 defeat in Game 1 of their best-of-seven semifinal series in the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup last Sunday.

SMB head coach Leo Austria said it would be dangerous to go down 2-0, especially against a formidable and talented team like the Tropang Giga, who were last year's runners-up against Ginebra.

Austria said they will try to turn things around come Game 2, which is slated for Wednesday at 3 p.m.

"It's very important that we tie the series against TNT," Austria told GMA News Online in an interview.

"Falling to 0-2 would be really hard to recover from because TNT has a deep and talented bench. You do not want to be in that position. So we have to do really well tomorrow."

To beat TNT, Austria said his wards have to limit their turnovers, which were the culprit of their Game 1 loss after they turned the leather over 23 times against Tropang Giga's 11.

Their turnovers led to 13 second chance points for TNT but the multi-titled mentor lauded his players for grabbing more rebounds than TNT after they recorded 55 boards compared to TNT's 44.

"If you look at it, we grabbed more rebounds than TNT and we also have a higher shooting percentage so I think we can really get a win against TNT in Game 2," said Austria.

"We really just have to limit our turnovers and errors. That's the key, I think."

After the clash of San Miguel and TNT, Magnolia will try to get a 2-0 advantage over Meralco in their Game 2 set at 6 p.m.

—JMB, GMA News