Alaska and Blackwater were given the responsibility of raising the curtains for the PBA 46th season’s centerpiece Philippine Cup this Friday, July 16 at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.
The Aces and Elite square off at 12:30 p.m. following a simple opening rites set 90 minutes earlier based on the full schedule released by the league Wednesday, July 14.
Rain or Shine and NLEX square off in the second game at 3 p.m. before Meralco faces NorthPort at 6 p.m. to conclude the tripleheader.
Four more teams make their debut the following day, July 17, with coach Chot Reyes starts his return duties with TNT against No. 1 draft pick Joshua Munzon and Terrafirma at 2 p.m. and Calvin Abueva facing his former team at 4:35 p.m. with Magnolia against Phoenix Super LPG which will now be led by Vic Manuel and Chris Banchero.
Defending champion Barangay Ginebra San Miguel begins its defense of the Philippine Cup crown Sunday, July 18 opposite NLEX at 4:35 p.m.
Other games on tap feature CJ Perez’s first appearance for San Miguel Beer against Meralco at 2 p.m. and the Rain or Shine-Blackwater tussle at 7 p.m.
Some of the notable matchups are Manuel and Phoenix taking on former club Alaska on July 24, Ginebra against Magnolia on July 25 and San Miguel-Ginebra on Aug. 1.
TNT-Phoenix on Aug. 7 and Ginebra-Meralco on Aug. 21 in their first meeting since the semis of last year’s PBA bubble and the last elims match pitting Ginebra and TNT on Aug. 27 in a rematch of the Philippine Cup Finals.
Tripleheaders are held every Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays while only two games are on tap every Saturdays to give way to the PBA 3x3’s inaugural tournament which opens next month.
Each ballclub will play 11 games in the elims with the top eight teams advancing to the quarterfinals.
Teams ranked No. 1 and No. 2 carry a twice-to-beat advantage against the seventh and eighth seeds while the third to sixth ranked squads figure in a best-of-three series.
Both the semis and Finals are best-of-seven affairs.
The PBA was given the go-signal by the Inter-Agency Task Force to start the season under a closed-circuit setup that will limit the movement of players, coaches, staff and rotating media members from their homes to the Pasig City venue and back.