PBA 2013 Governor's Cup Finals Schedule [UPDATED]

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On Monday, the Petron Blaze Boosters came up with a convincing win against defending champs Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to secure a finals berth against the San Mig Coffee Mixers. The two teams dominated their opponents in the Semifinals round, each winning their respective series in a 3-1 standing.

San Mig Coffee Mixers first booked their date at the finals last Sunday after defeating the Meralco Bolts. Meanwhile, Petron lost their first game in the tournament since dropping their first outing against Meralco Bolts last Saturday, forcing a Game 4 in the series.

The finals showdown is going to be an interesting duel because now-San Mig Coffee Mixers assistant coach Olsen Racela was the head coach for Petron last conference. However, SMC management decided to replace his spot with Gee Abanilla after the former failed to bring Petron to the finals despite having a strong start in the conference. Petron's story leading to the finals is also riddled with controversies including the choking incident with their import Renaldo Balkman, which prompted the Commissioner to not only suspend Balkman for the season but ban the import for life from playing in the league.

With two of the stronger teams competing against each other in the PBA 2013 Governor's Cup finals, it is expected to be a good one. Don't miss a single game and take note of the game schedules here:

October 11, 2013 (Mall of Asia Arena)

Petron Blaze Boosters vs San Mig Coffee Mixers - 8:00 PM

October 13, 2013 (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

Petron Blaze Boosters vs San Mig Coffee Mixers - 6:45 PM

October 16, 2013 (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

Petron Blaze Boosters vs San Mig Coffee Mixers - 8:00 PM

October 18, 2013 (Mall of Asia Arena)

Petron Blaze Boosters vs San Mig Coffee Mixers -8:00 PM

UPDATE:

October 20, 2013 - Game 5 (Mall of Asia Arena)

Petron Blaze Boosters vs San Mig Coffee Mixers - 4:45 PM

Which team do you think will win the finals?

Alaska Aces Snags One Over Ginebra, Leads Finals Series

Image: sports.yahoo.com.ph

Alaska Aces is considered the underdog in the series in terms of the fans given that Brgy. Ginebra is the most popular team in the league. However, that was not enough to intimidate the Aces; in fact, it fired them up enough to open the Finals series against the Ginebra squad in a fiery blaze, giving them a 1-0 advantage in their Best-of-5 series for the PBA 2013 Commissioner's Cup trophy.

On Game 1 of the Finals series that kicked off yesterday, May 15, Alaska Aces ended up winning via an 87-70 rout before a crowd of over 19,000 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

According to Aces head coach Luigi Trillo, "[the win] is huge" because it boosted his team's confidence going into Game 2 and the rest of the series. Not only that, this win also marks its third win against Brgy. Ginebra for the 2013 PBA Commissioner's Cup. However, he is not content with the way they played the game despite the win, as he notes they need to work better at making stops.

Ginebra put in only six points at the opening quarter of the game. This particular output has made it into the record books for being the lowest for any opening period and the third lowest of all-time in a single quarter. From there, Alaska rode their momentum for the rest of the game leading them to victory.

Luigi Trillo adds, "We need to play to our identity. They run-and-gun, get a lot of energy from the crowd when they do certain things...[but] we gave them six points in the first quarter. I think that's our identity, defense."

RJ Jazul lead Alaska in scoring with 16 points as Cyrus Baguio added his own 10 points. On the other hand, their import has played consistently throughout the conference and for Game 1 of the Finals, he chipped in 14 points along with 22 rebounds. Several other players scored in double figures for the Aces including Calvin Abueva, Jayvee Casio, and Sonny Thoss.

For the Kings, the story is much different. They had a paltry 26 for 84 field goal shooting percentage, although they managed to cut down the deficit to 11 with 2:51 left in the game. Vernon Macklin and LA Tenorio were the only bright spots for Ginebra wherein they scored 16 and 14 points, respectively.

If you want to see the rest of the PBA 2013 Finals schedule for the rest of the week, you can check it here.