Allein Maliksi erupts as Meralco snaps skid

There’s no doubt Allein Maliksi is a walking bucket. The Meralco Bolts guard is certainly a bane for opposing teams as he can knock down shots from long distance and drive to the basket for an easy two.

On Thursday, his offensive repertoire was in full display again as the Bolts snapped a two-game skid with a convincing 114-98 win over NLEX Road Warriors in their PBA Governors’ Cup match.

The former UST Growling Tiger shot 4 3-pointers on his way to 19 points for the Meralco side, which rose to a 4-3 win-loss card. He said “it’s all about practice.”

“I’m working hard na maging consistent shooting ko. Extra practice before and after (practice),” said Maliksi, who also had 6 rebounds and 4 assists.

As the Road Warriors tried to make a last-ditch effort to turn the game around, Maliksi hit some timely baskets to restore order and eventually hack out their much-needed victory.

His efforts didn’t go unnoticed.

“Basketball is really a game of runs. You rarely see a team blow out a team for an entire game. Sometimes you get on a good run. You don't really know exactly why but the other team figures it out and they come back and do well. At the end we’re just able to get some stops and Allein hit some big shots for us,” coach Norman Black said.

But Black was quick to commend the other players who stood out, including import KJ McDaniels, who had a Herculean 31-point and 21-rebound effort in almost 44 minutes of play.

“KJ was really a force in the paint today, which really helped us a lot. (Chris) Newsome did well today. A lot of guys really contributed to the victory. We knew if we could just cut down on our turnovers and control the boards we would have a good chance of winning,” he said.

While Maliksi can undeniably score at will, offense is not something he puts a premium on day in and day out.

“Pinaka-focus ko is 'yung defense so I’ll stay more in the game. Para I’ll always be a threat and I can help my teammates pag nasa loob ako ng court,” he said.