Merciless Beermen destroy listless Giant Risers

George King remembered being asked a week ago about how important it was for San Miguel Beer to stay on its toes even when it was headed into a pair of games against Group A minnows.

It seems the team had an answer.

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And even after clobbering the Macau Giant Pandas by 52, King and the Beermen kept their feet hard on the gas pedal and put together a 143-113 demolition job on the Titan Ultra Giant Risers in the PBA Governors’ Cup on Wednesday.

“The good thing is that everybody’s enjoying and it seems that they are getting good chemistry,” coach Leo Austria said after the blowout result at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

With King firing 39 points, Rodney Brondial putting up 13 points and 17 rebounds, and Marcio Lassiter scoring 15, San Miguel improved to 7-2 (win-loss) and practically assured itself of securing a place in the quarterfinals.

“I think at least 90 percent, we are already in the quarterfinals,” said Austria, though refusing to let his guard down as San Miguel starts to deal with the challenge of a two-month break before the conference resumes in early October.

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“We should not be complacent, because come playoff time, it will be a different ballgame,” he said.

San Miguel sits in second behind Group A leader NLEX, which improved to 7-1 after a 118-111 overtime win over TNT the other night at the same venue.

But the Road Warriors are currently dealing with adversity after import DeQuan Jones suffered a gruesome leg injury during the third quarter.

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NLEX, as of press time, is rushing for a replacement before facing Converge on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Ynares Center, however, witnessed another injury a day after Jones’ setback, during the third quarter of the San Miguel-Titan snoozefest.

Giant Risers rookie Bryan Sajonia left the third quarter on a stretcher after his left knee buckled while driving down the lane.

It remains to be seen how serious Sajonia’s injury was but it was reported during the broadcast that the San Beda product didn’t hear anything pop, which may be a good sign.

Titan Ultra fell to 2-7 going to the break as its struggles continued after being manhandled by TNT, 134-100, last Saturday in Rodriguez, Rizal.

The Giant Risers’ last three defeats were by at least 30 points, and against the Beermen, it seemed like they didn’t want to put any effort into making the game a bit interesting in the fourth quarter.

Titan played minus top local scorer Joshua Munzon, who reportedly sat out the match because he was part of a submitted trade involving TNT.

The Tropang 5G, the conference’s defending champions who are struggling to get momentum going, are hoping Munzon’s addition will provide the team with valuable firepower and ease its manpower problems.

TNT is giving up its first-round pick for Season 53 and rookie Joe Celzo, a rarely-used center out of San Beda.