THE PBA’s mid-season Commissioner’s Cup will fire off on Nov. 27 at the PhilSports Arena with a double-header that features foreign guest team Hong Kong Eastern.
Hostilities kick off at 5 p.m. with Converge, fresh from acquiring former Gilas Pilipinas sniper Jordan Heading and reinforced by former NBA player Cheick Diallo, taking on Terrafirma, headlined by 6-foot-11 British Ryan Richards and the fit-again Juami Tiongson.
HK Eastern, which spices up the competition with imports of unlimited height, will make its debut with either 6-foot-6 Cameron Clark or 6-foot-10 Chris McLaughlin in the 7:30 p.m. main game versus a Phoenix side spearheaded by 6-foot-9 Donovan Smith.
NorthPort, with 6-foot-11 Kavell Bigby-Williams in tow, and NLEX, which is still looking for a replacement after NBA vet Ed Davis backed out, will launch their bids the following day in the opener of a twin bill at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium (NAS).
Blackwater and Magnolia, two squads with returning imports in George King and Ricardo Ratliffe, will collide after the NorthPort-NLEX tussle.
On Nov. 29 also at the NAS, Meralco and import Akil Mitchell will hit the court versus the Fuel Masters in the curtain raiser to the duel between Converge and Eastern.
Rain or Shine, riding high from its semifinal stint in the recent Governors’ Cup, will make its first appearance with former Cameroonian national team member Kenneth Kadji on Dec. 1 against the Bolts in a gig at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
San Miguel Beer, which may go with Quincy Miller, will start its title defense on Dec. 3 at the NAS versus Phoenix. Back-to-back Governors’ Cup champion TNT, with Rondae Hollis-Jefferson again as anchor, will set its quest in motion on Dec. 6 in the same venue against HK while Barangay Ginebra and Justin Brownlee will be the last to report for action on Dec. 11 at the NAS versus NLEX.
The league will have another Christmas Day offering in this tournament, with Meralco taking on Converge and Ginebra and Magnolia renewing their Manila Clasico rivalry at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The PBA is reverting to the single round-robin format in the eliminations after holding a group format in the preliminaries of the season-opening Governors’ Cup. — Olmin Leyba