Smart Araneta Coliseum
4 p.m. Phoenix Fuel Masters vs Magnolia Hotshots
8 p.m. Ginebra Gin Kings vs San Miguel Beermen
PBA semis Game 1: Phoenix Fuel Masters vs Magnolia Hotshots
The Jason Perkins-Calvin Abueva matchup ensues. 🤌🤌🤌
This is, after all, what Perkins wanted before the semis. | @MeloFuertesINQ
READ MORE: https://t.co/gRlrSgZh8o pic.twitter.com/SLFUgSqZGa
— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) January 24, 2024
WHO WILL DRAW FIRST BLOOD?
No team is giving an inch as action begins in the fourth quarter of Game 1 between Magnolia and Phoenix with the Fuel Masters leading, 63-61. @INQUIRERSports pic.twitter.com/sLbebQbG37
— Rommel Fuertes Jr. (@MeloFuertesINQ) January 24, 2024
Phoenix leads Magnolia, 41-38, at the half in Game 1 of their best-of-five PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinal series. | @jonasterradoINQ
— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) January 24, 2024
Jazul! P3YBORIT!
Phoenix gets the 41-38 upperhand, 5.5 2q #PBAAngatAngLaban pic.twitter.com/ASWdSYaIwD
— PBA (@pbaconnect) January 24, 2024
Coaches in the Final Four, from top left, clockwise, Ginebra’s Tim Cone, Jorge Gallent of San Miguel, Jamike Jarin of Phoenix and Magnolia’s Chito Victolero. —PHOTOS BY AUGUST DELA CRUZ
If how these four clubs finished classification in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup were any indication, both best-of-five semifinal series that start on Wednesday have the promise to be slam-bang matchups.
Top-seeded Magnolia, traditional powerhouse San Miguel Beer, defending champion Barangay Ginebra and party crasher Phoenix Super LPG—which were all bunched in the top four with no more than a game separating the last three from the Hotshots—jockey for seats in the championship series of a tournament many believe is wide open with Justin Brownlee out for the crowd darlings.
Jason Perkins (with ball) and the Fuel Masters refused to be held down by the Bolts despite a slight bump at the start. Phoenix will now be shooting to get to uncharted waters and hopefully go all the way. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ
The revelries inside the Phoenix Super LPG locker room came in short bursts on Sunday night.
Understandably so. The Fuel Masters, after all, still have two more mountains to scale in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup before they go wild on a celebration for the ages.
The first of those two treks will begin on Wednesday against Magnolia, the league’s top-seeded club. But with a surplus of leaders and hungry youngsters, head coach Jamike Jarin is liking his chances.
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