THE CHASE for the coveted Philippine Cup title in the PBA’s golden season is down to four.
And all that’s left are heavyweights that have taken turns ruling the centerpiece competition in the last five years.
On one side, it’s San Miguel Beermen (SMB), the defending champion and also the winner in 2022, taking on Barangay Ginebra, the kings of the 2020 All-Filipino.
On the other, it’s TNT, the 2021 rulers and runners-up in Season 49, and Meralco, the 2023 titlists.
It’s a pair of explosive best-of-seven affairs beginning on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, pitting sister teams but fierce rivals from the MVP Group on one hand and sibling rivals from San Miguel Corp. on the other.
The Final Four also features a squad that made the most of its win-once advantage in the quarterfinals against an opponent that pulled off a twice-to-win reversal to get to this stage — No. 1 SMB versus No. 5 Ginebra and No. 3 TNT against No. 7 Meralco.
“In front of us is TNT. You know they’ve had their number quite a lot last year, they’ve won two championships (Season 49 Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup), very solid. It’s going to be a battle for us,” said Bolts coach Luigi Trillo after forging a date with the Tropang 5G with a 98-89 win over No. 2 Rain or Shine in the quarterfinal sudden death.
“And I think this is what they (players) want, they want to go through the best. So ngayon andun ’yung TNT. And I feel it’s also going to be a good series on the other side, ’yung Ginebra-San Miguel,” he added.
The Gin Kings took virtually the same path as the Bolts, beating No. 4 Converge a second time, 99-98 in overtime on Stephen Holt’s buzzer-beating winner from three-point arc, to advance.
Revenge may well be added motivation for the crowd darlings with their 4-3 loss to SMB in the same stage last season still fresh.
“We know them. They know us. And we took them to seven games last time. We’re going to try to flip the script this time around,” said Ginebra mentor Tim Cone. — Olmin Leyba
