San Juan, Davao open division title series

Armed with home court advantage, top seed Davao City and powerhouse San Juan hope to close in on a championship duel when they battle separate foes at the start of their respective divisions finals on Thursday night in the MPBL Datu Cup.

The Tigers host the battle-weary Batangas City Athletics at Almendras Gym in Davao City at the start of the best-of-three South division finals, while the Knights slug it out with the Manila Stars in the North division finals at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan.

While the Tigers had a five-day respite after dispatching the Bacoor City Strikers in their own semifinal series last Saturday, the Athletics have little time to recover after subduing Zamboanga, 80-72, on Tuesday night in their rubber match.

Manila fought back from a Game 1 defeat to oust top seed Bataan in three games, while San Juan remains unbeaten in the playoffs after breezing past Navotas and Quezon City in the first two rounds.

Val Acuna played his best game in the playoffs with 17 pints, while Jeff Viernes had another superb outing of 15 points and nine assists for the Athletics, who lost Game 1 of the series before bouncing back to take the next two at home.

With Davao boasting of an experienced frontline led by Mark Yee, the Athletics will try to counter with Jhaymo Eguilos, who had 13 points in the series-clinching victory.

The San Juan-Manila series evokes memories of the now-defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association, where the two cities figured in an intense rivalry in the early 2000s.

Now coaching the Stars, Philip Cezar, who called the shots for San Juan during the MBA days, expects a dogfight between the two teams that are coming off equally impressive wins in the division semifinals.

The Knights will be powered by the rejuvenated Mac Cardona, who averaged 25.5 points and 8.5 assists in the sweep of Quezon City.