The aftermath of Game 1 has been the talk of the town, adding even more drama to the series between PBA heavyweights. Will the San Miguel Beermen shrug off their painful loss in Game 1 and level the series with a win in Game 2? Or, will the TNT Tropang 5G dig the Beermen a 2-0 hole?

Catch this game live on Wednesday,  July 16, 2025 at 7:30 pm, Manila time.

San Miguel Beermen (0-1)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Juami Tiongson
  • Marcio Lassiter
  • CJ Perez
  • Rodney Brondial
  • June Mar Fajardo 

Despite getting bombarded nonstop from deep by TNT, the Beermen only lost by three points in Game 1, 99-96, and controversially so. It’s just a great luxury to have someone like June Mar Fajardo to bully basketball mortals in the paint, as he finished with 26 points on 11-for-17 shooting with 15 rebounds in the series opener, but even with his incredible performance, San Miguel fell short. 

For one, the Beermen failed to stop TNT’s outside shooting and they couldn’t muster enough of their own on the other side of the floor. The Beermen went just 5-for-18 from downtown. CJ Perez, Marcio Lassiter and Don Trollano combined for only 12-for-38. That’s a ton of bricks and wasted scoring potential for San Miguel. That’s not to mention Jericho Cruz hitting just two of seven attempts from the floor. Even just a minor improvement from their 40 FG% in Game 1 could spell a big difference in the Beermens’s favor this Wednesday.

TNT Tropang 5G (1-0)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Kim Aurin
  • Jordan Heading
  • Calvin Oftana
  • Kelly Williams
  • Brandon Ganuela-Rosser

Sure, the Beermen have Fajardo, but they didn’t have the shooting that TNT had in Game 1. The Tropang 5G countered San Miguel’s advantage inside by wreaking havoc out on the perimeter. Jordan Heading started and provided 19 points with two 3-pointers and a 4-pointer. RR Pogoy gave TNT a big spark off the bench, even leading the team with 23 points with a trio of triples and a pair of 4-pointers. 

As a team, TNT shot 17-of-43 from the 3-point area and 3-for-5 from behind the second arc. That kind of shooting is always going to be tough to deal with for any opponent, and the challenge for TNT in Game 2 is to keep that kind of accuracy up. In any case, San Miguel must be very wary of the Tropang 5G’s long-bombs, so expect them to chase TNT’s shooters and leave some lanes to exploit for Chot Reyes’ men.

Picks

Spread: San Miguel (-4.5)

Over/Under: Under(188.0)