PBA playoffs set interesting match-ups
The PBA Season 49 Governors' Cup quarter final round begins on Wednesday, September 28, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium with interesting pairings of the best-of-five series.
BRACKET 1: Sibling rivalry begins; Defense vs Offense basketball
First to battle will be the sister teams TNT Tropang Giga and NLEX Road Warriors.
TNT finished the elimination round as the top team of Group A with a 7-3 slate, while NLEX almost didn't make it to the next round as they only have a 5-5 mark, same with Blackwater Bossing but with superior quotient (+6) in their tie-breaker.
The Tropang Giga might have all the advantage in the game as they ought to defend their Governors’ Cup crown led by their NBA caliber import, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson who's been a workhorse since he returned to the PBA hardcourt but scoring champion Robert Bolick and the Road Warriors are hungry to taste a slot in the big stage.
Next will be a battle between teams with two contrasting styles of play.
The Group B's No. 1 team, Rain or Shine is known for its run-and-gun style of play with their roster given the license to shoot anywhere from their front court as long as they are open.
One reason for the success of the Elasto Painters this season is the mix of veterans and young guns thriving together with the likes of Beau Belga and Gabe Norwood paving the way for the rising stars such as Jhonard Clarito, Andrei Caracut, Anton Asistio, Adrian Nocum, Gian Mamuyac, and even rookies Caelan Tiongson and Felix Pangilinan-Lemetti.
Meanwhile, Magnolia would like to pound inside as they have the tools to do so with Ian Sangalang and James Laput manning the middle, while sophomore Zavier Lucero who's been playing consistently for the squad.
The Hotshots are also known for their identity as a defensive team led by veterans Mark Barroca, Calvin Abueva and Rome Dela Rosa, who always tried to limit their opponents below the century mark every game or even lower than 90's.
RoS might have all the tools this conference as they have shown their dominance in the double-round eliminations plus they are also hungry to taste a championship but Mags would hold on to do old saying that "offense wins games but defense wins championship" even though the team has been ringless since the 2018 edition of the tournament.
BRACKET 2: Brownlee vs Durham IV; David vs Goliath match-up
On the other side of the fence, Meralco will face Ginebra once again in a series and it will feature the Durham-Brownlee match-up for the fourth time.
Though this time, it will be earlier as they will battle each other in a quarterfinal best-of-five series.
In their first three series, Brownlee swept all the streaks including the championship-clinching, buzzer-beating three pointer in 2016 that gave the Gin Kings their first title in eight years.
The next two still went to Brownlee when they trounced Meralco in a hard-fought seven games the next year at the Philippine Arena to defend their title, then got it back against the Bolts in 2019 when Ginebra cruised to a 4-1 series win.
It looks like Brownlee and the Gin Kings have all the advantage against the Bolts but this time is different as they don't have Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle in their roster, whom they traded for Rookie of the Year Stephen Holt and Isaac Go before the season starts.
Another factor is that the Bolts have won their first ever championship last season with an All-Filipino crew after defeating the mighty San Miguel Beermen in the finals. Not only that, they also defeated Ginebra in their semifinals series.
Furthermore, Allen Durham also experienced being a champion in 2013 with the Ryukyu Golden Kings in the Japan B.League.
With all the accolades being said, it will be another thrilling match-up between the two rivals.
Finally, it will be a battle between the veterans and the young guns.
The most successful team in the PBA San Miguel Beermen with 29 titles will rely once again to the eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo to carry them to the Promised Land and capture their 30th championship of the franchise.
On the other hand, Converge will depend on their young guns led by Alec Stockton who's playing his great since last season, and Justin Arana who's been their anchor in the middle, together with their new-import Jalen Jones who led them in their past two victories before coming to the playoffs.
SMB might be the giant when it comes to experience and roster but the FiberXers have a promising line-up with desire to upset big guns like the Beermen. Not only that, this season's top overall pick Justin Baltazar has not played a single game yet as he still has commitment in the other league.
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Jayson Castro scored 16 points and made an immediate impact in his first game of the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup.
Castro added three steals and two assists in his return to help TNT Tropang Giga get the 109-93 victory over the Blackwater Bossing on Thursday night, December 19, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The nine-time PBA champion missed TNT's first three games due to hamstring issues.
TNT's all-around import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson supported Castro with his 22 points, nine rebounds, five dimes, five deflections, and a block.
Four more Tropang Giga scored in double digits to get their second straight victory of the tourney. Rey Nambatac contributed 19, Calvin Oftana provided 18, RR Pogoy put up 12, and Glenn Khobuntin added 10.
Meanwhile, Blackwater high-scoring import George King, who averaged 39 points per game, was only limited to a conference-low 28 markers on 10-of-22.
The Bossing also don't have their prized rookie Sedrick Barefield due to injury.
With King being handcuffed and Barefield not in the lineup, RK Ilagan stepped up and poured out 19 points highlighted by 3-of-3 shooting from the arc.
The game was the last of the year for both teams.
TNT will be back in action on January 7 against Meralco Bolts, while Blackwater will come back on January 8 to face Rain or Shine Elasto Painters.
Sweet-shooting guard Jordan Heading and import Cheick Diallo poured out 21 points each to lead Converge in their victory over the Phoenix Fuel Masters, 116-105, on Thursday night, December 19, at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The win marked the first time that the FiberXers won back-to-back games in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner's Cup and improved their record to 4-2.
Besides Heading and Diallo, four more Converge players scored in double digits. Schonny Winston and Bryan Santos contributed 16 apiece, while Alec Stockton and BJ Andrade added 14 and 11, respectively.
Their twin towers, ace center Justin Arana and top pick rookie Justine Baltazar both came out with six markers.
"We give credit to our guys," said FiberXers acting head coach Franco Atienza, who admitted that he was anxious when Phoenix made a good start that led to a 20-2 lead.
"We just stuck on, we didn't panic. We returned to how we want to run our system, how to run our offense, our defense," Atienza added.
Converge will have a chance to extend their win streak when they face Barangay Ginebra on Saturday, December 21, in Batangas City, and against Meralco Bolts on Christmas day at the Big Dome.
Meanwhile, Donovan Mitchell led Phoenix with 30 points and 18 rebounds. He was supported by RJ Jazul's 20, Tyler Tio's 13, and Ricci Rivero's 11.
The Fuel Masters now have a 1-5 win-loss record after dropping their final game of the year.
The Scores:
CONVERGE 116 - Heading 21, Diallo 21, Winston 16, Santos 16, Stockton 14, Andrade 11, Arana 6, Baltazar 6, Racal 5, Delos Santos 0, Caralipio 0.
PHOENIX 105 - Smith 30, Jazul 20, Tio 13, Perkins 12, Rivero 11, Tuffin 8, Verano 4, Garcia 3, Soyud 2, Manganti 2, Salado 0, Alejandro 0, Muyang 0, Ular 0, Daves 0.
Quarter Scores: 15-30, 48-54, 87-80, 116-105.
San Miguel failed to earn its breakthrough win in the 2024-25 East Asia Super League (EASL) after bowing to Hong Kong Eastern, 62-71, at Southorn Stadium in Hong Kong, on Wednesday, December 18.
Kobey Lam spearheaded the pivotal comeback, registering 19 points, which gave the Hong Kong squad its first victory in the EASL game.
Notwithstanding the efforts of June Mar Fajardo and recently signed import Torren Jones for San Miguel, Eastern maintained their lead.
After a difficult turn-around shot by Fajardo, the Beermen were able to cut the margin to just two points at 58-60 in the fourth quarter.
However, just when it appeared that San Miguel had the advantage, Lam blazed through when he scored five of Eastern’s 9-0 run.
Lam also posted three rebounds and one assist for the Hong Kong-based squad, with Chris McLaughlin tallying a double-double of 16 markers and 17 boards, while Glenn Yang contributed 11 for the home team.
Fajardo and Jones led the charge for the Beermen with 19 points each, but their efforts were for naught as they failed to keep the team from suffering a third straight loss and dropping to the bottom of Group A.
The loss was the first in three games for Leo Austria since taking over as coach last week in place of Jorge Gallent.
San Miguel will aim to finally grab their first win in the EASL as they face the Hiroshima Dragonflies on January 8 at the Hiroshima Sun Plaza in Japan.
The Scores:
Hong Kong 71 – Lam 19, McLaughlin 16, Yang 11, Blankley 7, Xu 5, Leung 5, Chan 4, Zhu 4, Cheung 0, Pok 0, Guinchard 0.
San Miguel 62 – Fajardo 19, Jones 19, Perez 8, Miller 5, Trollano 3, Tautuaa 3, Cahilig 3, Rosales 2, Ross 0, Lassiter 0.
Quarter Scores: 28-14, 48-34, 60-48, 71-62.