Almazan unsure for

tonight’s Game 4
By Adrian Stewart Co

Meralco Bolts center Raymond Almazan remains unsure for Game 4 in the ongoing 2019 PBA Governors’ Cup final series against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, which takes place tonight, beginning at 7:00 p.m., at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City. The 6’8” center sustained a lateral meniscal tear on his left knee during Game 3, which resulted in a 92-84 Barangay Ginebra win, giving them a 2-1 lead in the series.
“I will talk to him and assess [if he can play in Game 4],” explained Meralco team manager Paolo Trillo. “For now, his status [for] Game 4 is a ‘game-time decision.’”
Meanwhile, Meralco head coach Norman Black said he hopes Almazan is not out for the remainder of the finals.
“When I talked to him at halftime, he couldn’t move his leg and, being a former player myself, that’s never a good sign,” the head coach explained. “I’ll try to be as positive as possible and, hopefully, he will be okay.”
“Being a player myself, having a swollen knee [in] the middle of the championship is not something that you could just bounce back [from] easily,” he added.
For Barangay Ginebra, head coach Tim Cone said Almazan’s absence offers their team an advantage.
“Obviously, his presence, or lack of presence, was really felt,” he said. “I said in Game 3, this is the time for Japeth [Aguilar] and Greg [Slaughter] to really make a lot of forays in the paint—get some seals with Raymond out.”/ASC, WDJ