Streaking San Miguel Beer shoots for a third consecutive victory while TNT aims to bounce when they face separate rivals in the PBA’s final playdate for 2021 Sunday, Dec. 26 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen take on the Terrafirma Dyip at 4 p.m. before the Tropang Giga face the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters at 6:45 p.m. to conclude the league’s two-day Christmas treat dubbed as “Season of Joy.”
SMB bounced back from two losses to begin the season-ending Governors’ Cup by defeating winless sides NorthPort (91-88) and Blackwater (107-88).
They face another struggling team in Terrafirma, now at 1-3 after dropping two straight to Magnolia Pambansang Manok and NLEX by a combined margin of 57 points.
CJ Perez will face his former team for the second time since being traded last January, expected to play another prominent role for the Beermen.
Long-time mainstays June Mar Fajardo and Marcio Lassiter will also be tasked to deliver so are newcomers Vic Manuel and Simon Enciso, who scored 13 against his former team Blackwater last Dec. 17.
Terrafirma will likely head to the contest without former SMB playmaker Alex Cabagnot, who feared to have suffered an Achilles injury during last week’s 116-86 loss to NLEX.
Ed Daquioag, however, could see action for the first time after being acquired on Christmas Eve from Blackwater in exchange for Justin Melton.
Meanwhile, TNT is determined to get out of its inconsistent form after losing two of the first three outings this conference.
The Tropang Giga fell 83-80 to the Meralco last Dec. 22 in a match that saw import McKenzie Moore producing paltry numbers.
Moore, who the team said is dealing with jumper’s knee, only scored four points against the Bolts.
Main locals Mikey Williams, RR Pogoy and Jayson Castro have been tasked to work doubly during the early part of the tournament, which they’ll again try to do against Rain or Shine.
Like TNT, ROS is in a seesaw start with a 2-2 record, losing 109-98 to Magnolia exactly a week ago.
Today’s twinbill will be the latter part of the festivities which the league is hosting in partnership with the Quezon City government led by Mayor Joy Belmonte.