A pair of marquee matchups is raising the curtain to the 2025 PBA action as guest team Eastern and all-Filipino champion Meralco lock horns and powerhouses San Miguel and Barangay Ginebra collide in the resumption of the Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, Jan. 5.
Titanic SMB-Ginebra collision raises curtain in PBA resumption
Jan 4, 2025 05:10 AM
At a glance
A pair of marquee matchups is raising the curtain at the resumption of the 2025 PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup as guest team Eastern and all-Filipino champion Meralco lock horns and powerhouses San Miguel and Barangay Ginebra collide on Sunday, Jan. 5, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Hong Kong-based crew tests the mettle of the Bolts in the first offering of the year at 5 p.m. before the Beermen and the Kings figure in an explosive battle at 7:30 p.m.
Eastern and Meralco are tackling the new year with contrasting momentums, with the former coming off a 99-91 triumph over San Miguel, and the latter currently struggling with a two-game slide – the last a 110-94 loss against Converge last Dec. 25.
Likewise, the Kings are also brimming with confidence heading into their clash against the Beermen following an epic 22-point comeback against bitter rival Magnolia Hotshots, 95-92, while SMB had suffered back-to-back losses to Eastern both in the PBA and EASL to end the year.
The win against Magnolia proved to be crucial for the Kings it took some pressure off their shoulders especially with the tight battle in the standings according to head coach Tim Cone.
It also gave the team the confidence and momentum ahead of the titanic collision with the Beermen who are banking on the twin towers of June Mar Fajardo and import Jabari Narcis.
“It takes a bit of pressure off of us because we remain towards the group on top. If we lost we would have dropped down to the middle or the bottom. It’s really hard to come in a game on a must win so that puts a lot of pressure off you,” said Cone.
“We want to come in against San Miguel feeling confident and comfortable with our game, if we do that, we perform pretty well against them but if we come in a must win (situation), it’s really tough against a team as talented as San Miguel,” he added.
Ginebra is surely looking at rookie RJ Abarrientos, who had an impressive performance last time out, to back up Justin Brownlee, Japeth Aguilar, Stephen Holt and Scottie Thompson, who also nailed the game-winning triple against the Bolts.