TNT, NLEX gun for semis berths

DEFENDING champion TNT and NLEX aim for a series sweep against respective foes in Game 3 of the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup best-of-five quarterfinal series on Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Malate, Manila. The Road Warriors clash with the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters at 5:15 p.m. followed by the 7:30 p.m. collision between the Tropang 5G and the Magnolia Hotshots. After opening the series with a 97-92 win, NLEX took Game 2, 124-117, behind a strong fourth quarter performance by import Deonte Burton, who scored 10 of his 24 points in that stretch to tow his team to a 2-0 series lead. A Game 3 win pushes NLEX to the semifinals for the first time since it last reached the Final Four in the 2021 Governors’ Cup when Yeng Guiao was still at the helm and Cameron Clark as its import. That Road Warriors team did not have high-scoring guard Robert Bolick yet and Clark is playing for Converge this conference. Meanwhile, the Tropang 5G will also look to build on their wins in the first two games by putting an emphatic end to the Hotshots’ own title bid. Resident import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson was superb in TNT’s lopsided 91-73 rout of Magnolia...