Here are the live scores, updates, and results of the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup between the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and the NorthPort Batang Pier, scheduled on July 30, 2021, at 6:00 PM.
Now playing for NorthPort, seven-footer Greg Slaughter will face his former team, Barangay Ginebra, since being traded for Christian Standhardinger in the offseason earlier this year.
Slaughter was drafted by Barangay Ginebra in the 2013 PBA draft and has since led the team to four league victories, including the 2017 PBA Governors’ Cup, when he was named best player of the conference.
He declared his retirement from basketball in February of last year, when his contract with Barangay Ginebra expired. Following that, there was some back-and-forth between him and the team. He was re-signed by the Kings in February of this year, but was later traded to Northport for Standhardinger.
Slaughter made his Batang Pier debut on July 25 after missing the team’s opening two games. He had a good game, scoring a double-double of 25 points, on top of 17 rebounds, but his team lost 88-86 to the San Miguel Beermen.
Robert Bolick had 19 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists for the Batang Pier, who moved down to 1-2 in the standings.
On the other hand, Barangay Ginebra is coming off an 89-79 setback to the Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok on Sunday.
With less than four minutes remaining, the Gin Kings managed to trim the deficit to a single possession, 79-77, but Magnolia went on another huge 10-4 run late in the game to pull away for good.
Stanley Pringle finished with 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists, while LA Tenorio, Christian Standhardinger, and Scottie Thompson chipped in 13 points apiece for the Gin Kings, who dropped to 1-2 in the standings.
The defending Phillippine Cup champions have had a slow start to the campaign and are hoping to improve.
The last time this two teams met in the PBA bubble, Ginebra cruised past NorthPort, 112-100, as eight players of the Gin Kings scored in double figures. Pringle led the way with 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from downtown to go along with 8 boards.
The All-Filipino Cup will proceed to the quarterfinals in its customary format, with the top eight teams advancing. Against the eighth and seventh seeds, the top two seeds will have a twice-to-beat advantage. Meanwhile, in a best-of-three series, No. 3 will face No. 6, and No. 4 will face No. 5. Best-of-seven matches will be played in the semifinals and finals.
Unlike last season’s setup, the league will have a closed-circuit system for the Philippine Cup this time, with teams, league employees, and the media encouraged to keep a venue-home pattern to limit COVID-19 exposure.
The games will be held four times a week. The conference is also scheduled to go through the end of October.