The Hong Kong Eastern and the San Miguel Beermen will meet for the second time in a week. But this time, it will be in PBA play, with the Beermen looking to extend their win streak to three games. Eastern, on the other hand, is eyeing to dominate the Beermen again after beating SMB in the EASL.

Catch this game live on Sunday,  December 22 at 7:30 pm, Manila time.

Hong Kong Eastern (5-2)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Chris McLaughlin 
  • Yin Cheung
  • Hayden Blankley
  • Kobey Lam
  • Yuet Pok

Hong Kong Eastern took a rare stumble on Friday, as the guest team suffered a 120-113 loss to the surging NorthPort Batang Pier. Despite the loss, there is no denying that Eastern has been among the best teams in this conference. Although they are coming off a loss, Eastern will come into the Beermen with some kind of momentum, having just defeated San Miguel in EASL play last Wednesday. Eastern kept the Beermen winless in the EASL with a 71-62 win at the Southorn Stadium in Hong Kong. 

Kobey Lam repeatedly torched the Beermen in that game, as he finished with 19 points while Kobey Lam had 19 points. Meanwhile, Chris McLaughlin had 16 points and 17 boards. Lam and McLaughlin had good performances in the NorthPort game, with 18 and 26 points, respectively. With Cameron Clark’s injury status still seemingly up in the air, McLaughlin can be expected to see action this Sunday versus the Beermen.

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San Miguel Beermen (3-2)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Chris Ross
  • CJ Perez
  • Marcio Lassiter
  • Torren Jones
  • Junemar Fajardo

In their most recent PBA outing, the Beermen eked out a 115-102 win over the Blackwater Bossing last Sunday. That was, of course, before the Beermen got embarrassed in Hong Kong by Eastern. In what is essentially a rematch against Eastern this weekend, the Beermen will hope to apply what they learned from that defeat. They will also be looking for Junemar Fajardo to power them. The eight-time PBA MVP had 19 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field and 7-for-8 from the free throw line in the loss to Eastern.  

Torren Jones came away with 19 points and 11 boards, as he continues to improve his chemistry with the Beermen as a new import. With the Beermen playing Eastern back on home soil this time around, perhaps they can put up a better performance. Not having Quincy Miller in the rotation could also be ideal for the Beermen. Miller just had five points on 2-for-9 shooting in the loss to Eastern while also finishing with a minus-13. 

Picks

Spread: Hong Kong Eastern (+2.5)

Over/Under: Over (201.5)

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