FOUR giant franchises will start their duel in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Philippine Cup semifinals Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Sister teams San Miguel Beermen and Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings test each other’s mettle in the main game at 7:30 p.m for Game 1 of their best-of-seven series.
Before the game, the Meralco Bolts and TNT Tropang 5G will open the double-header at 5:15 p.m.
Cebuano bigman Junemar Fajardo is expected once again to carry the load for the defending champion San Miguel, as he came off a monster game of 26 points, 23 rebounds and team-high six assists in the quarterfinals.
“We know them. They know us. And we took them to seven games last time. We’re going to try to flip the script this time around,” said Tim Cone.
It’s going to be the fifth consecutive semis stint in the All-Filipino for the SMB franchise, 11th in the last 12 seasons.
“I’ll charge this win to experience,” said coach Leo Austria, whose troops are now unbeaten in their last 10 games after starting the conference at 0-2.
“They know how to win, especially in the second half. We struggled in the first half because NLEX came really prepared, we couldn’t execute our game plan. But the likes of June Mar, he didn’t score a lot in the first half but come the second half, he did, he knows how to win, eh,” Austria added. / RSC