Bay Area will hope that Andrew Nicholson’s ankle can recover well enough for the crucial Game 4 match.
Andrew Nicholson will remain as the import of the Bay Area Dragons for Game 4 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals, according to long-time PBA analyst Quinito Henson.
In Game 3, the NBA veteran landed on Jamie Malonzo’s foot during the final 30 seconds of the game and had to be carried by two teammates to the bench. After the game, Nicholson still had to be carried to the dugout and then wheelchaired out of the arena.
On the day after the incident, reports say Nicholson will play through the injury.
The injury to Nicholson brought to surface talks about what Bay Area should do next. The Dragons have the option to bring back Myles Powell, the import whom Nicholson replaced late in the conference.
However, recall that Powell himself is nursing a foot injury. He was recently seen doing shootarounds, but there was no official update on his status.
If the Dragons reactivate Powell for the remainder of this conference, they can no longer bring back Nicholson. If Bay Area goes that route and Powell gets sidelined again, that would leave them without an import.
With the Canadian cager returning for Game 4, the question now is — how effective can he be as he nurses his left ankle sprain?
Ginebra’s defense, particularly Christian Standhardinger's, has been tight on Nicholson. We will have to see how the import and the guest team would respond come Game 4, happening on Friday, 5:45 PM at the Mall of Asia Arena.