ALL hell is about to break loose.
San Miguel Beer and Star are about to embark on a tough war with each other as they open their much-anticipated best-of-five semifinals series in the 2017 Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup.
The No. 2 Beermen and the No. 3 Hotshots figure in Game 1 today at 5 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum to see who gets the pivotal first blood.
Most people foresee this series to be evenly matched, and for good reasons.
Both protagonists, presenting loaded rosters, are playing high-level basketball in the tournament.
San Miguel Beer and Star have been coasting thus far and now, they will no doubt face their toughest tests when they go at each other.
The Beermen, with a twice-to-beat incentive, demolished Phoenix, 115-96, in their quarterfinals’ tiff last Tuesday to earn their spot in the semis.
For the Hotshots, they swept Rain or Shine, 2-0, in their own best-of-three quarterfinals’ series.
In the closing Game 2, they finished burly down the stretch to arrange their date with the Beermen, finishing off the Painters, 84-69.
One of the many interesting match-ups this series will have is the battle of the teams’ reinforcements.
Strong imports Ricardo Ratcliffe (Star) and Charles Rhodes (San Miguel) are bound to cross paths again, this time in a bigger stage on Philippine soil.
These two prolific reinforcements were seasoned rivals in the Korean Basketball League, where they were both recognized as two of the top players there.
Meanwhile, TNT KaTropa and Meralco are currently disputing the last semis ticket as they battle in the deciding Game 3 of their best-of-three quarterfinals series as of this report.
The victor will move forward to the best-of-five semifinals and will face waiting top seed Barangay Ginebra.