Here are the live scores, updates, and results of the 2022 PBA Philippine Cup Finals Game 1 between the San Miguel Beermen and the Talk ‘N Text TNT Tropang Giga scheduled on August 21, 2022, at 6:00 PM.
The Tropang Giga are looking for a repeat of what they have accomplished during the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup. The Beermen wanted to regain their superiority in the All-Filipino conference featuring their newly calibrated roster.
It was more than a decade when Talk ‘N Text defeated SMB in the Finals, or that’s prior to the June Mar Fajardo era. That year, TNT was manned by Jimmy Alapag, Harvey Carey, Ali Peek, Jared Dillinger, and a young Jayson Castro.
Fast forward to this season, Castro is now the veteran in the team and can show them once again the way how to defeat the mighty Beermen on the biggest stage of the PBA. The 2010-11 PBA Philippine Cup Finals MVP will guide their young squad now led by their reigning Rookie of the Year, Mikey Williams.
Speaking of Williams, he almost grabbed the elusive Rookie-MVP honors last season due to his stellar performance throughout the 2020-21 PBA season. His offensive prowess will be tested by his on-and-off-court buddy Chris Ross. Ross who is known for his defense and won a couple of Defensive Player of the Year awards is sure to be a problem for TNT while executing their offensive strategy.
Head coach Leo Austria already proved to the league that he is a winner after leading the Beermen in several championship rounds. However, with his new “death squad” lineup they haven’t secured a Finals trophy back in the office of San Miguel.
Both coaches and even their respective officials predicted that the series would be a long one and might even reach a do-or-die round or a Game 7 schedule.
“Both teams are really competitive and are really preparing very hard for this series. We’ll see what happens,” the SMB head coach uttered.
“It’s 50/50,” said TNT head coach Chot Reyes. “The important thing for us is to stay patient and understand how difficult this series is going to be. We know how strong the other team is and we just need to be prepared,” he added.
Reyes is expected to be not with the Tropang Giga at least for two games as he will attend his national basketball team obligation. The Gilas Pilipinas is set to fly to Lebanon for another FIBA World Cup Qualifiers window. Assistant coaches Sandy Arespacochaga and Yuri Escueta will be making the calls from the bench and even Jojo Lastimosa might join the party to ensure that they’ll get the high ground of this competitive series.
“Magtutulungan sina coach Sandy Arespacochaga, Yuri Escueta, and even team manager Jojo Lastimosa can pitch in some ideas,” said Reyes.