Super Crunchy Makati Forced a Game 3: What Happened to the Stars of Manila?

Heading into the playoffs of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL), many pundits and fans are already expecting a North Division Finals slugfest between the defending champions San Juan Knights and the Manila Stars. After all, it was San Juan and Manila who occupied the top two spots in the North Division at the end of the regular season. While the Knights of John Wilson are already waiting in the North Division Finals, the Stars dimmed out in last night's Game Two of the North Division semifinal series where the Makati Super Crunch stunned the Stars with a 75-59 win which meant both teams will have to face each other one more time tomorrow to determine who has the right to face the defending champions in the division finals. 

So, what led to the downfall of the Stars last night?

The Usual Stars Didn't Shine

In the series opener, Carlo Lastimosa erupted for 25 points to lead Manila to a 77-74 win. In fact, he was one of the hottest in the league during the playoffs. But, all of that went down the drain in last night's Game Two. 

Unlike in the previous where Lastimosa could almost score at will, the 29-year old former professional player saw the lanes shut down by the defense of Makati and thus, limiting him to only seven points on two for 15 field goal shooting. That's 13%. He was worse in the three-point line where he missed all of his five attempts. 

And the nightmare didn't end there for Coach Toni Pinat as two of his usual stars didn't shine as well

Incoming PBA rookie, Aris Dionisio was limited to nine points on four for 12 field goal shooting and like Lastimosa, Dionisio couldn't connect anything from deep as he bricked all of his six attempts from downtown. Chris Bitoon was also limited to single-digit as he finished with eight points on two for nine shooting from the field. He was able to nail a three-pointer- one of his six attempts.

Makati's Defense Won it 

One of the reasons why Manila stumbled in last night's Game Two was the fact that Makati stuck with their defensive schemes not only to shut down the lanes for Lastimosa but for the whole Manila squad. As a result, Manila only shot 28% from the field, and a woeful three percent shooting from the three-point line with their lone make coming from Chris Bitoon. Makati's defense also made Manila commit 17 turnovers from which the former converted into 10 points at the other end.

Fortunately for the Manila Stars, they still have one more chance to finish the series and punch their ticket to the North Division Finals but they cannot show up tomorrow the way they did last night. Otherwise, everyone's prediction will not happen. 

Photo is from the Facebook page of the MPBL