Defensive-minded Giants trip Whopper on Christmas Day

Purefoods looked unstoppable when on defensive mode. Holding Burger King to just six points in the final seven minutes, the Giants roared to an 85-74 win over the Whopper on a KFC-PBA Philippine Cup Christmas Day duel at the Astrodome.

"Coming into the game, we knew we couldn’t challenge Burger King to a shootout," admitted Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio. "We needed to buckle down on defense. Defense has been bailing us out the whole conference. It will also play a big role in our coming games." That’s exactly what the Giants did after the Whoppers rallied back from a 12-point deficit and threatened to within 70-68 with 7:01 left to play. Despite playing hurt (knee), Kerby Raymundo scored four of his team high 19 points during a 7-0 Purefoods run that allowed the team to pull away for good, 77-68 with 4:10 remaining. There was nothing Burger King can do right from there, as Purefoods’ defense stepped up notches higher, frustrating them from getting back at the team that dealt them their very first defeat in the conference. So tight was Purefoods’ defense that it got into the Whoppers’ heads. Gary David, unable shake off big defender Rico Maierhofer, was called for a flagrant foul penalty two after hitting the rookie with an elbow. Maierhoffer hit both free throws to stretch the Giants’ lead to 81-70. Moments later, Burger King coach Yeng Guiao was whistled for a technical foul for profanity. Purefoods picked up their ninth win in 15 games for fourth spot with three games to go in the double-round eliminations. Burger King dropped to a 5-10 record with also three assignments remaining in the preliminary round, their hopes of advancing to the quarterfinals very remote and will most likely end up going through the knockout wild card stage. James Yap had 17 and Don Allado 12 for the Giants. Purefoods unleashed its first series of fine defensive stops at the start of the third quarter. The Giants, holding a 43-41 halftime lead, forced Burger King to commit eight turnovers and shoot miserably from the field (1-for-6) in a six-minute stretch. That display of defensive brilliance allowed the Giants to make a run and seize a 54-43 advantage. They would stretch that lead to its biggest at 15, 70-55, on an Allado basket with 10:12 left to play. But Richard Yee, a former Giant, led a blazing Burger King comeback. The Whopper detonated a 13-0 bomb to move to within 2 points, but couldn’t complete the mission. Beau Belga paced Burger King with 15, while David contributed 14. Richard Yee added 10 while Ronjay Buenafe had nine. – GMANews.TV