Defending champions San Miguel Beermen advance to the semifinals of the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup with a gutsy 91-84 victory over the NLEX Road Warriors, while Barangay Ginebra lives to fight another day through an impressive 105-85 triumph against the Converge FiberXers on Christmas night at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Let's assess how San Miguel was able to rack up their 10th straight win, and what Ginebra did to forge a do-or-die game against Converge on Sunday.
Playing through Fajardo at the post in the second half
NLEX dictated the early flow by cranking up ball pressure, aggressively trapping ball screens and trusting their rotations to disrupt San Miguel's offense.
On the other end, the Road Warriors pushed the pace and repeatedly challenged June Mar Fajardo in pick-and-roll coverage, a formula that worked in the first half.
By generating ten fastbreak points through two quarters and consistently "shorting" the two-man game to attack open creases, NLEX was able to control tempo and carry a 53-47 lead into halftime.
The game turned in the third quarter when head coach Leo Austria made a simple but decisive adjustment: slow the game down and play through Fajardo on the block.
With consistent post touches, the nine-time MVP punished single coverage, while NLEX was forced into difficult help decisions with Don Trollano positioned one pass away. When multiple defenders collapsed, Trollano capitalized; when attention shifted to the perimeter, Fajardo and San Miguel's frontline dominated the offensive glass.
That shift powered a pivotal 32-19 third quarter, with Trollano scoring 15 of his 17 points in the frame on 53.5 TS%. Fajardo finished with a commanding 26-point, 23-rebound double-double with six assists, as San Miguel asserted its size with a 64-41 rebounding advantage and a decisive 19-8 edge in second-chance points.
Another notable performance came from Jericho Cruz, who punished the NLEX traps by cutting to open spots and contributed 18 points on 60.4 TS%.
Meanwhile, the Road Warriors seemed to lose steam in the final two quarters, as they only had an output of 41 points in the second half.
The heavy production came from Robert Bolick -- putting up a great fight with 31 points, ten rebounds and seven assists. They now return to the drawing board in the next conference, with hopes of fixing their unbalanced offense.
Ginebra's flowing offense punctuated by RJ Abarrientos
Ginebra opened the game with a noticeably different approach, trusting its depth early and setting a tone built on energy and defensive pressure.
Head coach Tim Cone showed full confidence in his bench, allowing the lower-seeded team to sustain intensity without overextending their starters.
That trust paid off in the second quarter, when Ralph Cu knocked down two timely triples that stabilized the offense and bought crucial rest for the starters. Cu finished with eight points, three rebounds, and two assists, while Jayson David delivered impactful fourth-quarter minutes on both ends, tallying six points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
As part of our preview, Japeth Aguilar's assignment against Converge's twin towers became a key swing factor. Despite playing much of the game in foul trouble, Aguilar held his ground defensively and limited Justin Arana to just six points, while also providing scoring punch with 16 points and six rebounds in 31 minutes.
The game ultimately tilted in the second half behind Ginebra's backcourt control.
Scottie Thompson balanced shot creation and playmaking, using repeated paint touches to collapse Converge's defense and generate quality looks. The former MVP posted a triple-double of 13 points, 12 rebounds and ten assists, orchestrating the offense with pace and purpose.
The primary beneficiary was RJ Abarrientos, who thrived both off the ball and with the ball in his hands. With Thompson consistently collapsing the defense, Abarrientos found space to relocate, attack closeouts, and flow into shots without forcing the offense.
And when the defense adjusted, Abarrientos showed his growth as a shot creator, mixing pull-up jumpers with decisive drives to punish switches. The rhythm he established early carried into the closing stretch, where his shot-making repeatedly halted Converge runs.
He finished with a career-high 35 points, burying six of his eight attempts from beyond the arc, in a performance that tilted the game firmly in Ginebra's favor.
For Converge, the missing link was consistent guard production.
After scoring the team's first seven points, Juan Gómez de Liaño managed just two the rest of the way, finishing with nine points on 30% shooting.
While Alec Stockton and Schonny Winston provided flashes, Converge's offense struggled to find rhythm without sustained creation from its lead guard -- a problem compounded by the disciplined, physical perimeter defense of Stephen Holt and Thompson.