The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel will try to look for their first win in the conference again, as they face a seemingly dangerous Blackwater Bossing. Will Ginebra take care of business? Or, will the Bossing stun the crowd favorites?

Catch this game live on Friday,  July 24, 2026 at 7:30 pm, Manila time.

Blackwater Bossing (2-1)

Projected Starting Five:

  • RK Ilagan
  • Sedrick Barefield
  • CJ Austria
  • Kentrell Barkley
  • Abu Tratter

Blackwater’s undefeated start to the conference ended on Tuesday, with the Bossing falling to the Meralco Bolts, 116-114. The game went down to the wire, with Chris Newsome draining the dagger that gave the Bolts the victory. But that was a competitive loss by the Bossing to a perennial title contender. 

The Bossing were tested and nearly passed the test, and they will now look to get back to their winning ways. Ginebra is another tough assignment for the Bossing, who have lost all three of their last games in the matchup, dating back to 2024. The Bossing appear to have a formidable triumvirate to make any team sweat, with RK Ilagan, Sedrick Barefield and import Kentrell Barkley. 

Barefield led Blackwater with 29 points in the Bolts game, while Barkley and Ilagan had 28 and 20 points, respectively. As a team, the Bossing are averaging a healthy 111.3 points per game, but are among the worst in the league with just 16.0 assists per outing. Still, their ability to get buckets will keep Ginebra on its toes.

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel (0-1)

Projected Starting Five:

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

Ginebra did not have a great start to the conference, as the Barangay suffered an 81-76 loss to the Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters. It was also the PBA debut of Barangay import Riley Grigsby, who made a good first impression, albeit in a loss. Grigsby erupted for 42 points on 16/33 shooting from the floor with 13 rebounds for a double-double.

However, there was not much from the locals, with RJ Abarrientos being the next top scorer for the team with a mere total of eight points. Grigsby probably could have been better in sharing the ball, having finished with zero assists. 

For what it’s worth, Abarrientos, Jeremiah Gray and Stephen Holt combined for a painful 6/33 shooting. Ginebra is also missing Scottie Thompson, putting more pressure on Abarrientos to set the table on offense on top of being one of the Barangay’s top options for points.

Picks

Spread: Ginebra (-4.5)

Over/Under: Under (205.5)