Previous champions TNT and San Miguel Beer and second conference points leader Barangay Ginebra San Miguel eye strong starts to their respective title bids Saturday in the third leg of the PBA 3x3 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
San Miguel starts off the latest staging of the halfcourt competition at 8 a.m. when it battles Platinum Karaoke before taking on Terrafirma and Master Sardines as part of another busy 16-day schedule in the leg’s first day.
TNT also plays Platinum, Master and Terrafirma to open its quest to get back in the winner’s circle after being eliminated in the quarterfinals of the second leg.
Ginebra, on the other hand, seeks to finally get its first-ever leg crown beginning with matches against Purefoods and Meralco.
The three teams are among the favorites to rule the latest leg, with TNT and SMB aiming for a second title.
TNT ruled the opening leg behind Almond Vosotros, Reymark Acuno, Samboy de Leon and Lervin Flores before Jeff Manday, Ken Bono, Bacon Austria and Moncriff Rogado ended SMB’s title search by ruling the second leg.
But Ginebra has become a revelation this conference as the arrival of Encho Serrano and Jayson David to team up with Jollo Go and Denice Villamor have resulted in a third place finish in Leg 1 and a runner-up showing in Leg 2.
Both feats put Ginebra on top of the overall standings with 150 tour points followed by TNT and SMB with 145 apiece.
In fourth is first conference champion Limitless, which once again seeks to get back to its winning form against Pioneer and Sista.
SMB and TNT are in Pool A with Platinum, Terrafirma and Master, Pool B has Ginebra, Meralco, Purefoods and Cavitex while Pool C is composed of Limitless, Sista, NorthPort and Pioneer.
Pioneer’s Carlo de Chavez, Robin Rono, Christian Rivera and Gian Abrigo were a revelation in Leg 2, going unbeaten in Pool A before reaching the semis where they fell short against SMB.