San Miguel Beermen vs Bolts Prediction & Betting Tips - PBA, Governors Cup

Prediction published on 16/03/2022, 21:51  by Joseph King | Modified on 17/03/2022 at 03:51 in Basketball Predictions

The PBA Governors’ Cup playoffs are underway in the quarterfinals as we focus our attention to the game between the fourth seeded Meralco Bolts and the fifth seeded San Miguel Beermen. In what is most definitely considered the most evenly matched quarterfinal matchup, the Beermen will enter this game with their season on the line. The Governors’ Cup implements a two-to-win / once-to-lose structure where the lower seeded team must defeat their higher seeded opponent twice while the higher seeded team only needs to win once to advance to the next round. There wasn’t a lot to separate these two teams during the regular season as each finished with a record of seven wins and four defeats. The Beermen’s last game was actually against Meralco where they triumphed in a close 115-110 victory to close out their regular season and guarantee their place in the playoffs.

Meralco were able to bounce back from the defeat to San Miguel with a comprehensive 109-90 win over Phoenix to secure themselves a top four finish in their final game of the regular season - a hugely important result as it snapped a horrid three game winning streak. Both teams come into this match facing massive pressure and expectations from the fans. The Beermen are one of the PBA’s most successful franchises and are always expected to contend for titles while the Bolts looked like real title contenders when they sat atop the table with a 6-1 record earlier in the season. There were some strange comments made by Meralco head coach Norman Black in the build up to this match when the American stated that he is: “just happy to have the twice-to-beat advantage because we’re going to need it against San Miguel”, obviously referencing the previous loss to the Beermen less than two weeks ago.