IT'S San Miguel Beer versus Barangay Ginebra in the Friday mainer at the Smart Araneta Coliseum before the PBA Philippine Cup hops over to other playing venues in the next three weeks.
And it's expected to be a slam-bang affair with the Beermen staking their clean slate against one of those teams right behind them in the leaderboard.
The Beermen are at 3-0 closely followed by the NLEX Road Warriors (4-1) and the NorthPort Batang Pier and the Gin Kings both at 3-1.
Going to their 7:30 p.m. tussle at the Big Dome - succeeding the 4:30 p.m. tiff between the TNT Tropang Giga and the Batang Pier - the Beermen and the Kings ride the momentum of morale-boosting victories over the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters and the Magnolia Hotshots, respectively, on Easter Sunday.
Ginebra coach Tim Cone said their 87-77 win in the Easter Sunday Manila Clasico was "a lift more than anything else" going to their game against San Miguel.
Sponsored content: "They're playing right now in a level that they don't look like beatable. We'll see what we can do," said Cone of Jorge Gallent's troops that dealt the Kings a swift sweep in their best-of-five semifinals showdown in the recent Commissioner's Cup.
Another challenge for the Kings is dealing with the continued absence of injury-hit energy guy Scottie Thompson.
Cone hopes though that they can bring into the game the superb effort dished out in their bounceback win over Magnolia coming from a humbling rout by the Meralco Bolts.
"Our conference took a hit against Meralco, it showed crack (in our game)," said Cone then stressing the significance of their Sunday win.
But the Beermen could really be a big, big test for anybody.
Sponsored content: The Beermen are on a roll from their Commissioner's Cup championship run, dominant with their vast arsenals.
Consider the well spread production from CJ Perez, Jericho Cruz, June Mar Fajardo, Terrence Romeo, Don Trollano and Marcio Lassiter.
For one, Perez is on a swashbuckling ride, including his 35-point outing in the All-Star Game then a 32-point sizzler versus the Fuel Masters Sunday. (SB)
