June Mar Fajardo is within reach of an 11th Best Player of the Conference award in the PBA, while George King is in the running to win the Best Import crown in the Governors' Cup.
June Mar Fajardo is on track to win his record-extending 11th Best Player of the Conference award while George King emerged as the frontrunner for the Best Import race by the end of the PBA Governors' Cup elimination round.
The eight-time PBA MVP took early pole position in the race for the league’s highest individual honor.
Fajardo averaged 21.3 points, a league-leading 15 rebounds, and 2.8 assists, accumulating 43.9 statistical points (SPs) throughout the group stage phase.
He led the San Miguel Beermen to a 6-4 win-loss record, good for the number two spot in Group A. The reigning Commissioners’ Cup champions are currently holding a 1-0 lead against the Converge FiberXers in their quarterfinal series.
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NLEX Road Warriors star playmaker Robert Bolick is second in the race with 38.7 SPs, thanks to his all-around averages of 20.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 8.6 assists.
Just last night, the Road Warriors pulled off a wild Game 2 win against defending champion TNT Tropang Giga in Sta. Rosa to even their own playoff series at one game apiece.
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Northport Batang Pier's Arvin Tolentino, who was the top local scorer of the Governors’ Cup preliminaries, placed third with a 37.5 SPs after norming 23.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists for 37.5 SPs.
The Batang Pier, however, failed to qualify for the playoffs.
No. 4 in the BPC race is Fajardo’s teammate CJ Perez, who accounted for a total of 37.0 SPs on averages of 20.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 5.3 assists.
Rounding off the top five is the resurging Japeth Aguilar of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, who normed 19.5 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.2 assists for 33.4 SPs. The Gin Kings are gunning for a 2-0 series lead in their quarterfinal duel against rivals Meralco Bolts in Game 2 later at 7:30 p.m.
[ALSO READ: Cliff Hodge, Meralco look to bounce back vs Ginebra in Game 2 of PBA quarters]
On the other hand, King went on a rampaging scoring spree on his way to a league-best 40.3 points on top of 13.1 rebounds for a 61.7 SPs to lead the in the Best Import race.
That included a 64-point explosion and a 49-point outburst in his final two games in a Bossing uniform, but Blackwater narrowly missed the playoffs.
Running second is reigning Best Import and TNT’s Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (57.6 SPs), who finished the elimination round with solid numbers of 27.1 points, 13 rebounds, and 6.2 assists.
NLEX's DeQuan Jones (55.3 SPs) wound up in third while former import Jordan Adams (50.1 SPs) and Jalen Jones (47.5 SPs) of the Converge FiberXers to close out the top five.