FAMILY AFFAIR: Sister teams battle in PBA Ph Cup semis

Sports

Games on Sunday, Jan. 4

(Araneta Coliseum)

5:15 p.m.- Meralco vs. TNT

7:30 p.m.- Barangay Ginebra vs. San Miguel Beer

THE semifinal round of the 50th PBA Philippine Cup may feature sister teams, but with championship berths at stake, they are not expected to be chummy with each other in the two separate race-to-four affairs.

The Final 4 will start on Sunday, Jan. 4, with the Meralco Bolts and the TNT Tropang Giga, two of the three PBA teams under the control of businessman Manny V. Pangilinan, locking horns in the 5:15 p.m. first game and the Barangay Ginebra Kings and the defending champions San Miguel Beermen, two of the three San Miguel Corp.-owned squads, clashing in the 7:30 p.m. mainer.

The respective duels of the four protagonists in the elimination were close ones and if it’s any indication, fans can look forward to a dogfight in the semis.

Their elimination-round encounters saw TNT escape Meralco, 100-98, and San Miguel overcome Ginebra, 83-81.

The four semifinalists got a much-needed respite as the league took a break after the quarterfinal round ended on Dec. 29.

San Miguel and TNT had an easier route to the Final 4 as they needed just one game in dispatching their respective quarterfinal foes.

Both armed with twice-to-beat incentives, the Beermen defeated the NLEX Road Warriors, 101-94, while TNT nipped the Magnolia Hotshots, 118-109, in the quarterfinals.

Ginebra and Meralco took the harder route, needing to overhaul twice-to-win handicaps to advance.

The Kings first defeated the Converge FiberXers, 105-85, and followed it up with a pulsating 99-98 overtime win in their second meeting. Meralco also humbled a twice-to-beat opponent, beating the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in their first encounter, 96-79, before winning again in a do-or-die duel, 98-89.(CCM)