After getting stunned by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in their conference opener, the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel responded with a 99-91 win against the Meralco Bolts. Getting a victory just before a marquee showdown with the high-powered Bay Area Dragon is a great confidence booster for Tim Cone’s squad. As for the Dragons, they remain undefeated following a close call Friday in a 106-100 win against the Converge FibeXers.

Catch this game live on Sunday,  October 9 at 6:45 pm, Manila time.

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (1-1)

Projected Starting Five:

• PG: Scottie Thompson
• SG: Stanley Pringle
• SF: Jamie Malonzo
• PF: Justin Brownlee
• C: Japeth Aguilar

One thing about the Barangay heading into this game is that they should have fresher legs than Bay Area. The Dragons have just played on Friday, while Ginebra has had a week of rest by the time they hit the floor of PhilSports Arena Sunday. The ever-reliable Justin Brownlee scored 34 points versus Meralco. He got to the line a lot, going 11/13 from the charity stripe. The Barangay also don’t have to worry about the biggest Bay Area thorn in the side of PBA teams, as Bay Area is switching from Myles Powell to Andrew Nichols. 

While Nichols has been with the Dragons for some time now, there could still be significant adjustments they have to make with him on the floor. With Japeth Aguilar and Christian Standhardinger, Ginebra has the muscle to match up with Nichols. Meanwhile, the abilities of Stanley Pringle and  Scottie Thompson to create plays on and off the ball alongside Brownlee is a problem Ginebra can throw at Bay Area.

Bay Area Dragons (4-0)

Projected Starting Five:

• PG: Glen Yang
• SG: Kobey Lam
• SF: Songwei Zhu
• PF: Hayden Blankley
• C:  Andrew Nicholson

The Dragons continue to hold their own in the PBA. And this time, they will look to sustain their form with a new import in Andrew Nicholson, who may not be the shot creator that Myles Powell is, but a formidable reinforcement nonetheless for Bay Area. Nicholson has legitimate NBA experience and considerable stats when he played four seasons in the CBA. 

During his stint in China from 2019 to 2021, Nicholson averaged 24.9 points on 55.7%shooting from the field and 61.2% from inside the arc. But it could be Glen Yang who could steal the show (again) against Ginebra. Yang made 23 points on 10/19 shooting in the victory over Converge. He is a major reason too why the Dragons are among the top 3-pointers in the conference, as they are making 12 threes per game on 38 3FG%.

PREDICTION:

Spread: Bay Area (-8.5) covers the spread.

Over/Under: The Under (202.5) hits.