2016–17 PBA Philippine Cup Finals
# 2016–17 PBA Philippine Cup Finals

The 2016–17 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup Finals was the best-of-7 championship series of the 2016–17 PBA Philippine Cup, and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. The San Miguel Beermen and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel competed for the 39th Philippine Cup championship and the 119th overall championship contested by the league.

The championship series was also the 5th time (first since the 2009 Fiesta Conference Finals) that the two teams met in the finals.

San Miguel won the finals series, four games to one, winning their third straight Philippine Cup championship. The Beermen will also have permanent possession of the second version of the Jun Bernardino Trophy.

## Background

### San Miguel Beermen

San Miguel is the defending champions of the Philippine Cup for the past two seasons and they are gunning for their third straight Philippine Cup championship. A third straight championship will enable them to keep permanent possession of the Jun Bernardino Trophy.

The Beermen finished the elimination round with a 10–1 record, losing only to the Phoenix Fuel Masters. Their elimination round record assured them of the twice-to-beat advantage into the quarterfinals. They beat the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 98–91, to advance to the semifinals facing TNT KaTropa. TNT incidentally was the first team to have permanent possession of the Jun Bernardino Trophy after winning three straight Philippine Cup championships from 2011 to 2013.

San Miguel and TNT endured a seven-game semifinals series, with the Beermen winning the pivotal seventh game, 96–83.

### Barangay Ginebra San Miguel

Barangay Ginebra struggled in the first part of the elimination round and finished with a 6–5 record. Due to inferior quotient, the Gin Kings got the 7th seed, having a twice-to-win disadvantage going into the quarterfinals. The faced the Alaska Aces and won two straight games in order for them to advance to the semifinals. The Gin Kings were up against rival Star Hotshots on a Manila Clasico semifinal series. Star won the first two games before Ginebra won the next two games, eventually tying the series, 2–2. In Game 5, Star once again won and Ginebra was on a verge of elimination. Ginebra was able to force a do-or-die seventh game after winning Game 6. Barangay Ginebra eventually won Game 7, 89–76.

The Gin Kings played four do-or-die games (two in the quarterfinals against Alaska and two against Star) before reaching the finals for the second consecutive time since they won the Governors' Cup a season ago.

### Road to the finals

| San Miguel Beermen | San Miguel Beermen | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel |
| - | - | - | - |
| Finished 10–1 (.909): 1st place | Elimination round | Elimination round | Finished 6–5 (.545): Tied with TNT, GlobalPort and Phoenix at 4th place |
| bye | Tiebreaker* | Tiebreaker* | .94 (7th place) |
| Def. Rain or Shine in one game, 98–91 (twice-to-beat advantage) | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Def. Alaska in two games, 85–81 and 108–97 (twice-to-win disadvantage) |
| Def. TNT, 4–3 | Semifinals | Semifinals | Def. Star, 4–3 |

### Elimination round matchup

* January 8 6:45 PM
* Box score

San Miguel Beermen 72, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 70 :

| Scoring by quarter: 15–17, 17–14, 21–18, 19–21 |||
| - | - | - |
| Pts: Cabagnot 16 Rebs: Lassiter 13 Asts: Lassiter 4 | Pts: Aguilar 17 Rebs: Aguilar 11 Asts: Tenorio 4 |

* Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Referees: P. Balao, J. Mariano, B. Oliva, J. Nicandro

## Series summary

| Game | Date | Venue | Winner | Result |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Game 1 | Friday, February 24 | Mall of Asia Arena | San Miguel | 109–82 |
| Game 2 | Sunday, February 26 | Quezon Convention Center | Barangay Ginebra | 124–118 (OT) |
| Game 3 | Wednesday, March 1 | Smart Araneta Coliseum | San Miguel | 99–88 |
| Game 4 | Friday, March 3 | Smart Araneta Coliseum | San Miguel | 94–85 |
| Game 5 | Sunday, March 5 | Smart Araneta Coliseum | San Miguel | 91–85 |

## Game summaries

### Game 1

* Sports5
* February 24 7:00pm
* Stats

San Miguel Beermen 109, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 82 :

| Scoring by quarter: 35–12, 25–27, 29–17, 20–26 |||
| - | - | - |
| Pts: Fajardo, Ross 17 Rebs: Fajardo 8 Asts: Ross 8 | Pts: Ellis 13 Rebs: Devance, Jamito 6 Asts: Thompson 5 |
| San Miguel leads series, 1–0 |||

* Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay

After Ginebra took a 2–1 lead, San Miguel had a 16–0 run and finished the first quarter with a double digit lead, 35–12. The Beermen then pushed the lead as much as 36 points in one point of the game. Ginebra tried to orchestrate a run of their own but they cannot decrease the lead to 25 points, despite the absence of the Beermen's starters in the fourth quarter. Alex Cabagnot, Chris Ross and June Mar Fajardo scored in double figures in the first half.

### Game 2

* Sports5
* February 26 6:30pm
* Stats

San Miguel Beermen 118, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 124 (OT) :

| Scoring by quarter: 20–28, 23–39, 39–18, 28–25, Overtime: 8–14 |||
| - | - | - |
| Pts: Santos 23 Rebs: Santos 15 Asts: Ross 11 | Pts: Aguilar 23 Rebs: Thompson 18 Asts: Mercado, Thompson 8 |
| Series tied, 1–1 |||

* Quezon Convention Center, Lucena, Quezon Attendance: 8,000

Ginebra was able to pull ahead in the first half of the game, leading by as much as 26 points in the second quarter. San Miguel started their own run at the start of the third quarter. During the scoring run, Marcio Lassiter was given a technical foul and eventually ejected after taunting Sol Mercado upon making a three-point shot. Lassiter was earlier called for a flagrant foul on Kevin Ferrer in the first half.

Nevertheless, San Miguel was able to pull back out and decrease the lead to three points, 85–82, going into the fourth quarter. The Beermen were able to tie the game via a three-point shot from Arwind Santos, 106-all, with 48 seconds remaining in regulation. Japeth Aguilar responded with two free throws shots to give Ginebra a two-point lead. After a San Miguel timeout, Gabby Espinas uncorks a three-point shot, giving them a one-point lead. Ginebra had a chance to regain the lead when Aguilar tried a three-point shot but missed. The Gin Kings were forced to foul Ronald Tubid who split his charity shots. With 3.2 seconds remaining and Ginebra with possession, Joe Devance drove to the basket and missed his layup with Arwind Santos defending the basket. Devance got the rebound and made a follow-up basket before the buzzer sounded to force the game into overtime.

In the extension period, Ginebra made an 8–2 run with three minutes remaining but San Miguel had a 6–0 run from two three point field goals from Ronald Tubid, tying the game again 118-all with 1:40 remaining. Ginebra eventually pulled away with the victory following the scoring run led by Aguilar, Scottie Thompson and Sol Mercado.

### Game 3

* Sports5
* March 1 7:00pm
* Stats

San Miguel Beermen 99, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 88 :

| Scoring by quarter: 19–24, 25–25, 25–17, 30–22 |||
| - | - | - |
| Pts: Ross 24 Rebs: Fajardo 18 Asts: Ross 8 | Pts: Tenorio 16 Rebs: three players 7 each Asts: Devance, Tenorio 5 |
| San Miguel leads series, 2–1 |||

* Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 16,773

Ginebra was able to take the lead most in the first half, reaching by as much as 12 points early in the second quarter. San Miguel erased the lead and tied the game at 58-all by the third quarter. The lead went back and forth into the fourth quarter until the Beermen closed out the game with a 12–0 run starting at the 5 minute mark of the game.

### Game 4

* Sports5
* March 3 7:00pm
* Stats

San Miguel Beermen 94, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 85 :

| Scoring by quarter: 30–18, 25–16, 21–29, 18–22 |||
| - | - | - |
| Pts: Fajardo, Lassiter 20 Rebs: Fajardo 13 Asts: Ross 9 | Pts: Devance 22 Rebs: Thompson 10 Asts: Thompson 7 |
| San Miguel leads series, 3–1 |||

* Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 17,146

Prior the game, Beermen's center June Mar Fajardo was awarded his fifth Best Player of the Conference award, tying the record of former Beermen Danny Ildefonso.

San Miguel pulled out in the first five minutes of the game with a 20–2 run. The lead reached up to 26 points in the third quarter. A late game run was orchestrated by Ginebra in the fourth quarter, decreasing the lead to 9 points, 92–83 into the last two minutes of the game. Turnovers by Joe Devance and Mark Caguioa halted a possible Ginebra comeback.

### Game 5

* Sports5
* March 5 6:30pm
* Stats

San Miguel Beermen 91, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 85 :

| Scoring by quarter: 27–21, 24–20, 12–20, 28–24 |||
| - | - | - |
| Pts: Fajardo, Santos 21 Rebs: Ross, Santos 8 Asts: Ross 10 | Pts: Aguilar 26 Rebs: Aguilar 16 Asts: Devance 8 |
| San Miguel wins series, 4–1 |||

* Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City Attendance: 20,217

San Miguel led most of the game for the first three quarters. Barangay Ginebra was able to decrease the lead to one point, 84–83 after a three-point basket from LA Tenorio, with 2:28 remaining in the game. The Beermen pulled away with the victory after a 7–0 run led by June Mar Fajardo, Chris Ross and Arwind Santos. San Miguel won their third straight Philippine Cup championship in five games.

Chris Ross won the Finals MVP award, with finals averages of 17.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 9.2 assists and 1.8 steals per game.

## Rosters

* $^a$ Chua also serves as Barangay Ginebra's board governor.

## Broadcast notes

The Philippine Cup Finals was aired on TV5 with simulcasts on PBA Rush (both in standard and high definition). TV5's radio arm, Radyo5 currently provides the radio play-by-play coverage.

Sports5 provided online livestreaming via their official YouTube account using the TV5 feed.

The PBA Rush broadcast provided English-language coverage of the Finals.

| Game | Sports5 | Sports5 | Sports5 | PBA Rush (English) | PBA Rush (English) | PBA Rush (English) |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Game | Play-by-play | Analyst(s) | Courtside reporters | Play-by-play | Analyst(s) | Courtside reporters |
| Game 1 | Magoo Marjon | Eric Reyes and Norman Black | Rizza Diaz | Jutt Sulit | Ali Peek | Apple David |
| Game 2 | Sev Sarmenta | Andy Jao | Erika Padilla | Carlo Pamintuan | Vince Hizon | none |
| Game 3 | Anthony Suntay | Quinito Henson and Ryan Gregorio | Sel Guevara | Chiqui Reyes | Jong Uichico | Chino Lui Pio |
| Game 4 | Charlie Cuna | Dominic Uy and Ryan Gregorio | Rizza Diaz | Aaron Atayde | Don Allado | Mara Aquino |
| Game 5 | Magoo Marjon | Andy Jao and Norman Black | Erika Padilla | James Velasquez | Charles Tiu | Carla Lizardo |

* Additional Game 5 crew:
   * Trophy presentation: Aaron Atayde
   * Dugout celebration interviewer: Sel Guevara
