Two heavyweights both storming to 2-0 start in the conference duke it out in the Wednesday mainer in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
San Miguel Beer and Magnolia square off at 7:30 p.m. in the last match before a weeklong tournament breather in observance of the Holy Week.
Both sides are determined to sustain the momentum of a two-game run after a poor showing in the Commissioner's Cup.
It's worse for San Miguel with a 5-7 (win-loss) slate resulting to the end of a 22-conference playoff streak.
June Mar Fajardo and his teammates hadn't missed the post-elims plays in a decade until their mere 10th-place windup last conference.
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Eager for redemption, the Beermen started the Philippine Cup with a 98-89 lashing of the NLEX Road Warriors followed by a 110-98 drubbing of the Meralco Bolts in a retro game at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum during the league's golden anniversary on April 9.
From a five-day rest, the Beermen return to play, going for win No. 3 versus a Magnolia side chasing the same goal after convincing victories over Blackwater (106-84) and Converge (83-71).
Fajardo plays his first game as a freshly minted PBA great, being among the 10 honorees or 10 additions completing the league's 50 greatest in PBA Gala at Solaire North Resort in Quezon City Friday.
The Hotshots, for their part, look to push their strong all-Filipino start coming from a losing quarterfinals finish in the Commissioner's Cup.
Paul Lee and his teammates registered a mere 6-6 record in the elims then plunked in their bid to go past the quarterfinals, beaten by then top seed NorthPort.
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But they have put that behind them and are now locked-in in their hope to contend in the Philippine Cup.
"Credit to the players, in-embrace nila yung gusto namin gawin. Yung system namin, ini-improve lang namin ng konti," said coach Chito Victolero.
They've been all business from the run-up to the tourney where they beat the Beermen in a tuneup.(SB)
