The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Philippine Cup semifinals cast is now complete.
Corporate giants San Miguel Corporation and the Manny V. Pangilinan Group are sure to have a team advancing to the championship.
But which team will secure the precious spot in the biggest stage for the title and glory will be decided in a sibling rivalry-flavored best-of-seven semifinals series erupting on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Top-seeded defending champion San Miguel Beer battles Barangay Ginebra in a rematch of the same playoffs meeting in the previous all-Filipino conference.
Last season’s Philippine Cup runner-up TNT, on the other hand, crosses paths with redemption-seeking Meralco in the other Final Four pairing.
The Beermen and Tropang 5G advanced to the semifinals by eliminating their quarterfinal rivals in one fell swoop.
San Miguel blasted NLEX, 101-94, on Christmas Day before TNT followed the streaking Beermen into the penultimate round by sending Magnolia to an early vacation, 118-109, two days after.
Both teams have the luxury of extra rest days before heading to war to open the new year.
“Well, it will only be a disadvantage if we allow it to,” TNT coach Chot Reyes said if the long rest will benefit his squad.
“If we don’t take care of business in our practice. The key is how well we prepare and in situations like this, it’s always a combination of balance. There’s a delicate balance between staying sharp and still giving the players recovery.”
While the Beermen and Tropang 5G took a shortcut to the next playoffs phase, both Ginebra and Meralco used the backdoor to gain entry.
The Kings advanced to the Final Four thanks to the buzzer-beating three-pointer by Stephen Holt in the do-or-die Game 2 against fourth-seed Converge last Sunday.
Ginebra spoiled the young but feisty FiberXers’ attempt at history after Holt hit the game-winning trey in a 99-98 overtime decision.
This completed the Kings’ survival from a twice-to-win disadvantage against Converge, which they routed, 105-85, on Christmas Day, for a chance to return the favor against the Beermen.
San Miguel booted out Ginebra in their last semis meeting that went the full seven games.
Meanwhile, sixth-seeded Meralco also overcame Rain or Shine’s twice-to-beat advantage to secure its first semis berth since winning a historic Philippine Cup crown in 2024 at the expense of San Miguel.
Chris Newsome dropped 18 of his game-high 31 points in the fourth quarter as the Bolts finished off the Elasto Painters, 98-89, in the win-or-go-home decider on Monday.
Meralco forced the rubbermatch with a 96-79 win in their first meeting last Saturday.