Hot Pals get Christmas wish: quarterfinal berth

The Talk n Text Phone Pals brought their A-game in a crucial Christmas Day showdown with the Barangay Ginebra Kings, pulling off an emphatic 115-104 win to gain outright entry into the Talk n Text PBA quarterfinals at the jampacked Araneta Coliseum yesterday.

Asi Taulava had a huge double-double game while Renren Ritualo found his old shooting touch in the second half, and the Pals broke away from a tight contest going through the wildcard round.

After struggling for a single point in the first half, Ritualo erupted for 19 points in the last two quarters, starring in key runs that had Talk n Text stopping Ginebra’s remarkable seven-game streak.

Duplicating their 113-98 decision over the Kings in their previous tiff, the Pals nailed the second quarterfinals seat, leaving the Sta. Lucia Realtors and the Purefoods Chunkee Giants to dispute the last berth in a playoff on Jan. 3.

The three teams closed out their classification-round stint with identical 10-8 win-loss cards. Talk n Text gained fourth seeding behind Ginebra (13-5), San Miguel (13-5) and Red Bull (11-7) on superior quotient in the tiebreak.

Before a Christmas Day crowd of over 17,000, the Pals played a fiery game with five of them finishing in double figures led by Harvey Carey with 21. Ritualo and Mark Cardona fired 20 apiece, Taulava had 19 points and 18 rebounds while Vic Pablo chipped in 10 points and four assists.

"Talagang merry ang Christmas," said Talk n Text coach Derrick Pumaren. "We’re already ready to play in the wildcard round but we’re given Christmas presents by Alaska Milk and Coca-Cola."

In the first game, San Miguel Beer closed out its prelims stint with a seventh straight win, bucking Gary David’s career-high 34-point output in toppling Air21, 108-104.

The Beermen got off to a blazing start but tapered off in the second half, needing crucial defensive stops at endgame for the win and a 13-5 record at the end of the classification round.

With an outright seat in the Final Four, the Beermen will take a month-long rest before returning into action in the semifinals.

"I like the fact that we’re in the semis but I don’t want the fact that we’re taking a long break," said San Miguel coach Chot Reyes. "It’s a bit too long. No matter how hard and energized your practice is going to be, you’ll miss game situations, the speed of the game, the audience, the lights. No matter how we try, we’ll come in rusty."