EXPECT fireworks when longtime rivals San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra start their best-of-five semifinal showdown in the 2016 Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup.
The much-anticipated Game 1 clash between the No. 2 seed Beermen and the No. 3-ranked Gin Kings is scheduled at 7 p.m. today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Coaches of both squads both know that they will have a tough mountain to climb when they go up against each other.
“It feels good to be in the semis. It’s great to be back here and our reward, we get San Miguel,” said Kings’ coach Tim Cone, who is happy to be in his first semis stint as Ginebra coach, but also wary given that they will face the defending champion. “In no way this is going to be easy, but we’re up to the challenge.”
“The semis is not easy for any team. We will face Ginebra and we know what they’re capable of. This will be an exciting and hard series,” said San Miguel coach Leo Austria.
Both teams took the same path to the semifinals.
They both had twice-to-beat advantages in the quarterfinals, had big leads, lost them, before eventually hanging on to arrange this marquee duel.
San Miguel first qualified last Friday as it ousted NLEX, 114-110, after losing a 17-point lead in the third quarter.
Elijah Millsap came up big, scoring 39 points to help his Beermen clinch the series.
Hours later, Barangay Ginebra followed suit after it withstood a tough stand from rival Alaska to carve out a thrilling 109-104 victory despite losing a 21-point fourth-quarter lead.
LA Tenorio and Justin Brownlee continued to shine, scoring 32 and 29 points, respectively, to carry Ginebra to the semifinals.
Drawing first blood will be critical as both teams want to gain a vital upperhand.
