By JONAS TERRADO
Games Today
(AUF Gym powered by Smart 5G)
4 p.m. – Alaska vs Terrafirma
6:45 p.m. – Rain or Shine vs Ginebra
The PBA on Monday announced the cancellation of TNT’s game against NorthPort despite a Blackwater player who initially tested positive for COVID-19 yielding a negative result.
Opting for a safer approach, the league put on hold the TNT-NorthPort match scheduled 6:45 p.m. at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center after the Tropang Giga played the Elite four days ago.
TNT was isolated after the league announced Sunday that the Blackwater cager was put on quarantine at the Athletes’ Village in Capas, Tarlac after getting a positive result on his RT-PCR test.
But the unnamed player tested negative in both antigen and RT-PCR Sunday afternoon, though he will remain under quarantine as a precautionary measure.
The situation prompted the PBA to cancel Sunday’s match between Blackwater and Rain or Shine.
He was the second person inside the Pampanga bubble to have such a case.
A referee who officiated the Blackwater-Alaska match last week initially ruled as a “suspect case” but was later considered as a “false positive.”
Only one game was played Monday with Phoenix Super LPG taking on NLEX in the first game of Fuel Masters cager Calvin Abueva since his indefinite suspension was lifted by PBA commissioner Willie Marcial.
Their game was moved from 4 p.m. to 6:45 p.m. in order to take advantage of the primetime slot that was vacated following the TNT-NorthPort cancellation.
Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel tries to recover from a frustrating loss to sibling rival Magnolia when it faces Rain or Shine in Tuesday’s Philippine Cup doubleheader at the Smart 5G-powered AUF venue.
Ginebra faces Rain or Shine at 6:45 p.m., two days after squandering a 10-point third quarter lead before losing 102-92 to Magnolia in their “Bubble Clasico” encounter.
It was Ginebra’s first defeat after a 4-0 start.
Alaska is also aching to bounce back after its three-game winning streak was snapped by San Miguel Beer over the weekend in the 4 p.m. opener opposite lowly Terrafirma.
