Ginebra bowed to San Miguel in an epic best-of-seven PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series last season. Now, they found themselves back in the same stage, with the Gin Kings looking to change the story this time.
Among the semifinalists in the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup, Ginebra probably had the toughest path.
The Gin Kings struggled to get going early in the conference, needing to fight tooth and nail for a quarterfinal berth.
But with experience and resolve, Ginebra is back in the semifinals against defending champion San Miguel.
[RELATED STORY: PBA Semifinals Preview: San Miguel out to sustain might against Ginebra]
Road to the playoffs
It has been a roller-coaster conference for Ginebra.
The Gin Kings stumbled to a 1-3 start, then managed to rack up some wins enough to enter the quarterfinals as the No. 5 seed.
They secured their ticket to the Last Eight via a thrilling 102-100 comeback win over Rain or Shine in Bahrain.
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As if that was not dramatic enough, the Gin Kings overcame a twice-to-win disadvantage against fourth-ranked Converge capped by a classic 99-98 overtime win at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
While RJ Abarrientos made his presence felt the entire way, it was Stephen Holt who shone the brightest after nailing the game-winning trey at the buzzer.
“That’s probably one of the biggest shots of my career,” said Holt.
[RELATED STORY: Tim Cone on Ginebra's semis-clinching OT win over Converge: 'It just felt miraculous']
Last meeting vs. the Beermen
Ginebra and San Miguel made their fans in Dubai happy as they squared off there in the elimination round.
The Gin Kings found themselves down by 14 points until Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar and Abarrientos staged a late uprising to trim the gap.
But SMB's Kris Rosales had other plans.
He played the hero's role for the Beermen, scoring eight big points down the stretch to hold off Ginebra and score the win.
Now, the Gin Kings do not only look to avenge that game but also their loss to the same team in the Philippine Cup semifinals last season.
Ginebra begins that quest at the Big Dome Sunday, Jan. 4.
Match begins at 7:30 p.m.
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Like most sportswriters, Jan Ballesteros once dreamed of becoming a professional hooper. But he learned the hard way that it’s not for everyone.
He continues to be involved in the sport he loves, but this time as a member of the PBA Press Corps. Aside from primarily covering the PBA, he is also assigned to cover Gilas Pilipinas.