NEW YEAR EXPLOSION: Gin Kings battle struggling Beermen

Games today:

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)

5 p.m. — Eastern vs Meralco

7:30 p.m. — San Miguel vs Barangay Ginebra

Confident Barangay Ginebra looks to pick up from where it left off in an explosive clash with defending champion San Miguel Beer to start 2025 with the resumption of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup action today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Kings eye a second straight win following an inspiring Christmas Day triumph in the much-anticipated encounter set at 7:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, Meralco is out to check a two-game slide in the 5 p.m. curtain-raiser against Hong Kong Eastern.

Ginebra is beaming with confidence after a 95-92 escape over Magnolia in a nailbiter that saw Scottie Thompson hit the game-winning triple at the buzzer in front of more than 12,000 fans — mostly Kings faithful.

“We need to come into (the game against) San Miguel feeling confident and comfortable with our game. If we do that, we should perform pretty well against them,” Kings coach Tim Cone said.

And Ginebra accomplished that with an epic decision in the celebrated Manila Clasico rivalry. The Kings are in solo fifth spot just within striking distance of the top four with a 4-2 win-loss record.

NorthPort continues its hold of the pole position with a 6-1 slate followed by streaking Rain or Shine (4-1) while Eastern and surging Converge are tied with 6-2 marks.

Resident import Justin Brownlee, shinning rookie RJ Abarrientos, who sparked the team’s comeback from 22 points down the last time out, Thompson and Troy Rosario will lead the Kings’ charge in the rematch of the Governors’ Cup semifinals.

But while Ginebra holds momentum, the Beermen are back to square one after suffering a 91-99 overtime loss against Eastern last 22 December, spoiling the debut of San Miguel’s third import Jabari Narcis.

San Miguel sports a 3-3 card at seventh spot behind the Bolts (3-2).

The Beermen are in another adjustment period with Narcis in the fold as the replacement for Torren Jones. He only had two practice sessions before his debut.

Head coach Leo Austria hopes the holiday break will be enough for the reinforcement from Trinidad and Tobago to adapt to San Miguel’s system fully.

“He’s bigger than Torren. And we felt that with the consultation from everybody, Jabari could help us with his size and he could shoot from the three once in a while,” Austria said.

“He’s an import that could fit with June Mar (Fajardo) because we need someone to stretch the floor.”

On the other hand, Meralco coach Luigi Trillo breathed a sigh of relief as injured big man Brandon Bates, CJ Cansino and Jolo Mendoza are back from sickbay.

The Bolts were severely bitten by the injury bug in the opening salvo of the mid-season tournament, playing with a depleted roster including going all-Filipino in one of their two straight losses.

Veteran center Raymond Almazan is also back in harness from a sprain. Chris Banchero and Allein Maliksi saw action for the first time last Christmas in a 94-110 loss to Converge.

“They all looked refreshed and everyone joined practice,” Trillo said of his players when they resumed practice last Thursday.

“Some, like Jolo and CJ, are not yet 100 percent, but it’s nice to have them back,” Trillo added.

“The concern, really, is a little bit of adjustment in the rotation since a lot have rejoined the team.”

Meralco will need a healthy roster for a tough stretch starting with Eastern followed by games against TNT (7 January), NLEX (10 January), NorthPort (14 January) and San Miguel (18 January).

The Bolts will have a 10-day break before wrapping the elimination round against Ginebra on 29 January.