Title-hungry Nuggets face odds-defying Heat in Finals

DENVER—A Denver Nuggets squad looking to prove its championship quality and an upstart Miami Heat lineup that made defying the odds a trademark are on an NBA Finals collision course.

Two-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic of Serbia leads the Western Conference top seed Nuggets against sharpshooter Jimmy Butler and the Heat, who needed a play-in victory just to grab an eighth seed in the Eastern Conference.

The best-of-seven championship series begins Thursday at Denver. It’s the Nuggets’ first trip to the NBA Finals since making their league debut in 1976.

Denver has won hard-earned respect after 46 seasons of futility, this year as a playoff top seed for the first time.

“Our goal is to win a championship, so we have much more work to do,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.

“Seems like for years now, some dusty old cowtown in the Rocky Mountains, the little respect that we get. You can sit there and complain about it or you can just embrace who we are and what we have.

“Until we win a championship, people are going to keep saying that about us. So that’s what drives us. Getting to the finals doesn’t do it. It’s winning a championship.”

Jokic, a 6-foot-11 (2.11m) center, averaged 24.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and a career-high 9.8 assists a game this season and shot a career-best 63.2% from the floor. Miami center Bam Adebayo says the key to slowing Jokic is “making him take tough shots” but added, “The biggest thing for us is try to limit his assists. Sounds easier said than done. Biggest thing for us is watching film and figuring that out.”

The Nuggets have talent and depth around Jokic, led by guard Jamal Murray, who missed the entire 2021-22 season due to a torn left knee ligament. He’s averaging 27.7 points in the playoffs.

“I’m so happy for Jamal. He’s a special player,” Jokic said. “He has been our best player since round one, really stepping up. Even if he doesn’t make shots, his energy is always good. He’s still fighting.”

Denver forwards Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon and Bruce Brown and guard Kentavious CaldwellPope each average 10-15 points in the playoffs in supporting roles that have made the Nuggets formidable.

“When we’re just playing the right way, everything opens up,” Murray said. “Everybody eats when we’re all playing for each other and we’ve been doing that for a while. We’re just in a great rhythm of playing unselfish basketball.” AFP

By Julito G. Rada

INFLATION likely eased further to as low as 5.8 percent in May from 6.6 percent in April following the rollback in petroleum prices and the reduction in poultry and fish prices, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said Wednesday.

“The BSP projects May 2023 inflation to settle within the range of 5.8 to 6.6 percent. Higher prices of rice, vegetables and other key food items as

FUEL PRICE DISCOUNTS.

Jetti Petroleum Inc., a locally-owned independent oil company known for its commitment to delivering affordable petroleum products to Filipinos, formalizes its partnership with Cebuana Lhuillier Inc., the country’s leading micro financial services company. Through the partnership, Jetti is offering exclusive discounts to members of Cebuana Lhuillier’s 24k Rewards Program. Members can now enjoy an unbeatable fuel discount of P2 per liter on gas and diesel at all Jetti Petroleum stations nationwide. Signing the partnership agreement are (from left) Jetti resident Leo Bellas and Cebuana Lhuillier head of 24k-customer engagement Arwen Fabro.

well as the increase in LPG and Meralco electricity rates are the primary sources of upward price pressures for the month,” it said in a statement.

It said the cumulative rollback in domestic petroleum prices and lower poultry and fish prices and electricity rates of various regional power distributors could lead to lower inflation in May.

“Going forward, BSP will continue to monitor developments affecting the

DOTr, Sumitomo sign P7.38-b deal to rehabilitate MRT 3

By Darwin G. Amojelar

THE Department of Transportation said Wednesday it signed a P7.38billion contract with Sumitomo Corp. for the rehabilitation and maintenance of Metro Rail Transit Line 3 to ensure safety and efficiency of the mass transit system. Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said Sumitomo, the original designer, builder and initial maintenance provider of the MRT-3, would rehabilitate and maintain MRT 3 for the next 26 months.

Bautista said the maintenance extension contract “will manifest our determination to keep our public transport safe, efficient and convenient.”

He said Sumitomo would use four-car train sets from the existing three-carsets to significantly increase the daily ridership to more than half a million passengers a day, complementing the services of the EDSA Bus Carousel.

“What is more significant in extending the maintenance contracts for MRT 3 is ensuring trouble-free operations to Metro Manila’s second rapid transit line,” Bautista said, adding the project would make the rail line at par with the train systems of developed countries. outlook for inflation and growth in line with its data-dependent approach to monetary policy formulation,” it said.

The rehabilitation and maintenance extension contracts cover technical system support, maintenance, spare parts procurement and provision of other rehabilitation and capacity expansion services to MRT-3 to improve the system’s service reliability, capacity and longterm sustainability. The DOTr and Sumitomo signed the extended maintenance service, a contractual agreement to continue the maintenance service for the MRT 3 until 2025.

Inflation reached a 14-year peak of 8.7 percent in January, before slowing down to 8.6 percent in February, 7.6 percent in March and 6.6 percent in April.

The BSP in its latest policy meeting took a pause in its monetary tightening cycle and kept the key interest rate unchanged at 6.25 percent taking into