Sunday’s doubleheader at Ynares Arena in Pasig City will be kicked off by a matchup between the Terrafirma Dyip and the NorthPort Batang Pier – two teams looking to get back to their winning ways in the PBA on Tour. While it’s not a rivalry game in the ilk of  Crispa vs Toyota or Ginebra vs Purefoods, it has the potential to be an entertaining one.

Catch this game live on Sunday,  July 9 at 5:00 pm, Manila time.

Terrafirma Dyip (3-5)

Projected Starting Five:

  • PG: Angelo Alolino
  • SG: Eduardo Daquioag
  • SF: Allen Mina
  • PF: Javier Gomez De Liano
  • C: Aldrech Ramos

Terrafirma gets further down the .500 mark after suffering a 114-106 loss to crowd darlings Barangay Ginebra San Miguel on June 30. That’s the Dyip’s second loss in a row. Terrafirma just couldn’t defend well against the Barangay, who shot 60 percent from the field. The Dyip were not too shabby themselves offensively in that game, as they sank 51 percent of their shots and even went 15/36 from deep. 

Even with their lousy defense, the Dyip can also just blame Ginebra’s unsustainable shooting luck in that contest. The Barangay are among the lowest-scoring teams in the PBA on Tour and somehow just woke up on the right side of the bed. That might not be the case this time for NorthPort, which, at the time of this writing, is third-worst in the PBA on Tour with just an average of 93.14 points per game. The Batang Pier are also among the worst with a ghastly 40 FG%.

NorthPort Batang Pier (3-4)

Projected Starting Five:

  • PG: Paul Zamar
  • SG: John Michael Calma
  • SF: Mer Jesper Ayaay
  • PF: Joshua Munzon
  • C: Christian Balagasay

Like Terrafirma, the Batang Pier are on a two-game losing skid.  After getting destroyed by the Magnolia Chicken Timplados in a 125-89 loss on June 23, NorthPort suffered a 95-87 defeat at the hands of the NLEX Road Warriors last Wednesday. Paul Zamar shined in the loss to NLEX, though, and his brilliant performance could carry over into Sunday against Terrafirma’s seemingly leaky defense. 

Zamar had 22 points with nine rebounds and six assists against the Road Warriors to raise his average to 15.57 points per game. Joshua Munzon struggled versus NLEX, as he finished with only six points on a salty 2/12 shooting, but his offensive woes are something that can be cured by a game against the Dyip, who have allowed 109.0 points in their last two games.

PREDICTION:

Spread:  Terrafirma (-2.5) covers the spread.

Over/Under: The total (201.0) hits the Over.