It’s a battle between the haves and the have-nots in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, as Group A leader TNT Tropang Giga look to use the Terrafirma as a punching bag once again. But will the Dyip land a haymaker to score an upset win?

Catch this game live on Thursday,  September 19 at 5:00 pm, Manila time.

TNT Tropang Giga (7-1)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Jayson Castro
  • RR Pogoy
  • Calvin Oftana
  • Glenn Khobuntin
  • Rondae Hollis-Jefferson

TNT has already clinched a spot in the quarterfinals, but the job isn’t yet done for it in the elimination phase, as the Tropang Giga have two more games left to play before the playoffs. One will be this Thursday’s game against the cellar-dwelling Terrafirma side. It is easy to tell why the Tropang Giga are the huge favorite to win this contest. For one, the Dyip are winless. 

Also, TNT had already whipped Terrafirma before, with Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and company crushing the Dyip on Sept. 5, 107-89. Things have not changed a lot for the Dyip since, so it could be the same result in the rematch. Hollis-Jefferson pumped in 26 points in the first meeting with Terrafirma, while five TNT locals unloaded at least 10 points each. 

The Tropanga Giga, who are on a five-game win streak, are coming off an 84-82 win over the Magnolia Chicken Timplados on Tuesday.

Advertisement

Terrafirma Dyip (0-8)

Projected Starting Five:

  • Stanley Pringle
  • Philip Cahilig
  • Tommy Olivario
  • Aldrech Ramos
  • Antonio Hester

The Dyip are who most people thought they were before the season – bad.

Even with the addition of Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle, the needle has not moved a bit for the Dyip, who are still searching for their first victory in this conference. Their chances of winning at least one of their next two games aren’t looking good. Apart from the fact that Terrafirma’s remaining assignments are against the top two teams in Group A, the Dyip are also missing a couple of key players in Christian Standhardinger and Juami Tiongson due to injuries. However, Terrafirma has shown some fight of late, as it has lost by just a total of two points in its last two outings. The Dyip lost to Magnolia on Sep. 12 (99-98) and to the Converge FiberXers on Sep. 14 100-99). It’s been a tough conference thus far for Terrafirma and its six fans, but at least the team is showing some life despite its situation. Perhaps the Dyip can catch a TNT team that has its foot a little bit off the gas this Thursday.

Picks

Spread: Terrafirma  (+16.5)

Over/Under: Over (205.5)

Advertisement