The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and the Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots will get all the eyes when they lock horns for a Manila Clasico matchup. Will Ginebra add to the Hotshots’ woes? Or, will Magnolia stun the Barangay?

Catch this game live on Sunday,  August 2, 2026 at 7:30 pm, Manila time.

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (2-2)

Projected Starting Five:

  • RJ Abarrientos
  • Stephen Holt
  • Riley Grigsby 
  • Troy Rosario
  • Japeth Aguilar

Ginebra got back to its winning ways on Friday, thanks in large part to the return to form of RJ Abarrientos. The former FEU Tamaraws star point guard finally woke up from his slumber in Ginebra’s 84-75 win over the Meralco Bolts on Friday, scoring 27 points on 10/17 shooting from the field and 3/5 from behind the arc. This time, Riley Grigsby did not have to do it all by himself on offense, though he still came away with 25 points. 

But Ginebra would love it to be more than just a two-headed monster on offense, and it will look to coax more from the other guys after a game where no one outside of Abarrientos and Grigsby had more than eight points. For what it’s worth, Troy Rosario and Stephen Holt combined for 15 points and 15 rebounds against the Bolts, who were also held by Ginebra’s stout defense to an atrocious 33.7 percent shooting from the floor.

Magnolia Chicken Timplados Hotshots (1-3)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Jerom Lastimosa
  • Javi Gómez de Liaño
  • KJ Buffen
  • Rome dela Rosa
  • Ian Sangalang

It has been a poor start to the conference thus far for LA Tenorio and the Hotshots. Just when it looked like they had turned the corner by beating Meralco (112-98), the Hotshots followed that up with a 98-97 heartbreaker of a loss at the hands of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Friday. 

But Magnolia will have to have a short memory, with Manila Clasico coming right up shortly after that stinging defeat. Import KJ Buffen paced the Hotshots with 31 points on 13/23 shooting. Magnolia dominated the paint in the loss to the Elasto Painters, outscoring Yeng Guiao’s squad in the shaded area, 52-38, a positive takeaway for the Hotshots heading into the Ginebra showdown. Despite their ugly record, the Hotshots are a team too talented to be losing at this pace. They will figure it all out at some point, and that may come as soon as this Sunday against a rival. 

Picks

Spread: Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (-4.0)

Over/Under: Under (194.0)