The two teams that put on a show in Dubai last season will headline the PBA season restart Sunday at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center.
Ginebra and NLEX will slug it out in the main event of the league’s long-awaited return, seven months after its stoppage due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The match is at 6:45 p.m., with the Road Warriors looking to sustain their mastery over the Gin Kings since last year’s encounter in the City of Gold. That Governors’ Cup match is best remembered for the fight NLEX showed, as it crawled back from 28 down en route to the 113-111 overtime win.
But the crowd darlings will be looking to exact revenge, and they are among the favorites in this compressed Philippine Cup inside the bubble.
Meanwhile, Sunday’s 4:00 p.m. curtain-raiser will see the new-look TNT Tropang GIGA take on the Alaska Aces.
The league released the schedule of the only conference it will host in this pandemic-interrupted season on Tuesday afternoon.
Among the notable matches is the storied Clasico rivalry between Ginebra and the Magnolia Hotshots, which will take place on Oct. 25. Then there’s the Oct. 12 date where Phoenix will take on Meralco, which could be the return of Calvin Abueva from a 15-month suspension.
Still, the 32-year-old has yet to complete the necessary requirements given to him before the league decides on his return.
Three games will be held on Halloween (Oct. 31), with Blackwater playing Terra Firma; Meralco going up against TNT; and Phoenix battling Rain or Shine.
Elimination round games will take place every day from Oct. 11 to Nov. 11 — exactly a month — but teams won’t play back-to-back games.
“We have scheduled games more or less, every other day. So there are no back-to-back games for all the teams,” Deputy Commissioner Eric Castro told the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum Tuesday.
Reigning, five-time Philippine Cup champions San Miguel heads into the resumption with a 1-0 card from its 94-78 win over Magnolia last March 8.
The top four teams at the end of the eliminations will be equipped with a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
The semis will be a best-of-five affair, and the winners will vie for the championship in a best-of-seven battle in the Finals.
