For most people, Christmas is a special time of the year with reunions and family gatherings aplenty, but for two PBA teams, this year’s Christmas will be another day in the office. On the 25th of December, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the Alaska Aces will face off in a crucial semifinals duel.
The league has hosted games on Christmas Day in the past, but this year’s event will be extra special as it has a very important bearing for two teams that hope to jump into the finals. For Elasto Painters head coach Yeng Guiao, it’s a do-or-die game for his squad as he finds his team down 1-2 in the series against the Aces.
On the other hand, most Aces who have just begun their young careers have yet to experience a Christmas Day game and this includes their head coach Alex Compton.
“A different way to celebrate, I love basketball so that’s a Merry Christmas,” Compton said, while being wary if he could really end up merry at the end of a surely heated matchup against Rain or Shine. Compton just hopes that his team ends up grabbing a more comfortable 3-1 advantage. He also added that the whole Alaska family will be there for this special day.
For Aces starting point guard JVee Casio, this will be his first time to battle on the court during Christmas. While he says that business is business come game time, he looks at the game as something new for his family too. “It will just be one way to gather our family together,” he quipped.
While balancing the season’s meaning and the weight of the game, this semifinal showdown will serve as a great treat for the fans. The Mall of Asia Arena also offered the fans free entry to the General Admission section for this particular game day.
Whatever the outcome, it will be a Merry Christmas on the hard court of the PBA.
