MANILA, Philippines – The rematch is on! The San Miguel Beermen and Magnolia Hotshots' best-of-seven titular series showdown in the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup began on Wednesday, May 1 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Previous year's champ Beermen are looking for a 5-peat while the Hotshots are gunning on scoring back-to-back championships after their win in the Governors' Cup last December.
UPDATE: Magnolia Hotshots draw first blood, 99-94 against San Miguel Beermen.
Both teams struggled in the elimination rounds with SMB finished at 5th while Magnolia was at 6th place. But this did not break their hope for finals comeback as they managed to rise in the quarterfinals and the semifinals.
After the last year's victory in the Philippine Cup, San Miguel kept its core and added two key pieces, Christian Standhardinger and Terrence Romeo.
Magnolia is expected to challenge SMB's loaded roster with its intact lineup.
Tip off is at 7:00 p.m.
Watch the Game 1 of 2019 PBA Philippine Cup Finals on livestream (video courtesy of pba.ph/live and ESPN5 on YouTube):
Here are the live updates courtesy of PBA:
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— The Summit Express
Previous year's champ Beermen are looking for a 5-peat while the Hotshots are gunning on scoring back-to-back championships after their win in the Governors' Cup last December.
UPDATE: Magnolia Hotshots draw first blood, 99-94 against San Miguel Beermen.
Both teams struggled in the elimination rounds with SMB finished at 5th while Magnolia was at 6th place. But this did not break their hope for finals comeback as they managed to rise in the quarterfinals and the semifinals.
After the last year's victory in the Philippine Cup, San Miguel kept its core and added two key pieces, Christian Standhardinger and Terrence Romeo.
Magnolia is expected to challenge SMB's loaded roster with its intact lineup.
"We can't do anything about their (Standhardiner and Romeo's) addition. However, we will come in prepared. We know we're the underdogs since the start of the conference, but we will just keep fighting," Magnolia coach Chito Victolero said.
Tip off is at 7:00 p.m.
Watch the Game 1 of 2019 PBA Philippine Cup Finals on livestream (video courtesy of pba.ph/live and ESPN5 on YouTube):
Here are the live updates courtesy of PBA:
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| 2019 PBA Philippine Cup Finals Schedule. Photo Credit: Twitter/PBA |
— The Summit Express
