2020 PBA Philippine Cup

2020 PBA Philippine Cup
2020 PBA Philippine Cup
Duration	March 8–11, 2020 (before first suspension) ; October 11–29, 2020 (first resumption, second suspension) ; November 3 – December 9, 2020 (second resumption)
TV partner(s)	Local:; One Sports ; TV5 ; PBA Rush (HD); International:; AksyonTV International
Finals
Champions	Barangay Ginebra San Miguel
Runners-up	TNT Tropang Giga
Awards
Best Player	Stanley Pringle ; (Barangay Ginebra San Miguel)
Finals MVP	LA Tenorio ; (Barangay Ginebra San Miguel)
PBA Philippine Cup chronology
	< 2019 2021 >
PBA conference chronology
	< 2019 Governors' 2021 Philippine >

Last updated January 10, 2024

The 2020 Philippine Cup, also known as the 2020 Honda PBA Philippine Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the only conference or tournament of the 2020 PBA season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The 42nd PBA Philippine Cup started on March 8 and ended on December 9, 2020. The tournament does not allow teams to hire foreign players or imports.^[1]

Three days later, the PBA board of governors decided to indefinitely postpone the tournament, together with the PBA D-League Aspirants' Cup, and the launching of the PBA 3x3 league, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the country and the enforcement of the various quarantine restrictions throughout the country.^[2]

During their meeting on September 17, the PBA Board of Governors decided to resume the tournament and create the "PBA bubble" (similar to the successful NBA bubble) within the Clark area in Pampanga. The games were played at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center while the players stayed at the Quest Hotel inside Clark.^[3] On September 24, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) gave the league a provisional approval to have scrimmages and five-on-five games.^[4] The 12 PBA teams arrived in Clark by batches on September 28 and 29, 2020.^[5]

On October 6, the league published its complete eliminations schedule. The elimination round games of the Philippine Cup resumed in the "PBA bubble" on October 11 and played daily with two games scheduled per day.^[6]

The tournament was temporarily postponed between October 30 to November 2 after a Blackwater Elite player and one of the league's referees tested positive for COVID-19.^[7]^[8]^[9]

After new protocols have been added, the games resumed starting November 3. In order for the league to finish the elimination round by November 11, two to four games were scheduled per day. This was the first time that the PBA had a quadruple-header game day and an official game scheduled in the morning.^[10]

Format

The following format will be observed for the duration of the conference. The two of the quarterfinals match-ups were originally be a best-of-three series, and the semifinals be a best-of-seven series but was revised to all quarterfinal match-ups be in a twice-to-beat format, and the semifinals be in a best-of-five series during the planning for the "PBA bubble":^[3]

Single-round robin eliminations; 11 games per team; Teams are then seeded by basis on win–loss records.
Top eight teams will advance to the quarterfinals. In case of tie, playoff games will be held only for the #8 seed.
Quarterfinals (top 4 seeds twice-to-beat):
- QF1: #1 vs #8
- QF2: #2 vs #7
- QF3: #3 vs #6
- QF4: #4 vs #5
Semifinals (best-of-5 series):
- SF1: QF1 Winner vs. QF4 Winner
- SF2: QF2 Winner vs. QF3 Winner
Finals (best-of-7 series)
- F1: SF1 Winner vs SF2 Winner

Elimination round

Team standings

Pos	Team v t e	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Barangay Ginebra San Miguel	8	3	.727^{[lower-alpha 1]}	—	Twice-to-beat in quarterfinals
2	Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters	8	3	.727^{[lower-alpha 1]}	—
3	TNT Tropang Giga	7	4	.636^{[lower-alpha 2]}	1
4	San Miguel Beermen	7	4	.636^{[lower-alpha 2]}	1
5	Meralco Bolts	7	4	.636^{[lower-alpha 2]}	1	Twice-to-win in quarterfinals
6	Alaska Aces	7	4	.636^{[lower-alpha 2]}	1
7	Magnolia Hotshots	7	4	.636^{[lower-alpha 2]}	1
8	Rain or Shine Elasto Painters	6	5	.545	2
9	NLEX Road Warriors	5	6	.455	3
10	Blackwater Elite	2	9	.182	6
11	NorthPort Batang Pier	1	10	.091^{[lower-alpha 3]}	7
12	Terrafirma Dyip	1	10	.091^{[lower-alpha 3]}	7

Source: PBA.ph
Rules for classification: 1) winning percentage; 2) if two teams are tied, head to head record; if three or more teams are tied, head-to-head goal average (quotient), if tied for 8th, one-game playoff; 3) overall quotient 4) coin toss ^[11]
Notes:

1 2 Head-to-head record: Barangay Ginebra 1–0 Phoenix
1 2 3 4 5 Head-to-head quotient: TNT 1.074, San Miguel 1.023, Meralco 0.992, Alaska 0.959, Magnolia 0.955
1 2 Head-to-head record: NorthPort 1–0 Terrafirma

Schedule

Team ╲ Game	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Alaska	TNT	MER	MAG	BWE	ROS	SMB	TER	PHX	BGSM	NP	NLEX
Barangay Ginebra	NLEX	BWE	MER	PHX	MAG	ROS	ALA	NP	TNT	SMB	TER
Blackwater	NP	BGSM	NLEX	ALA	TNT	SMB	MER	TER	ROS	PHX	MAG
Magnolia	SMB	NLEX	ALA	MER	PHX	BGSM	TNT	TER	ROS	NP	BWE
Meralco	PHX	ALA	BGSM	MAG	NLEX	SMB	BWE	ROS	TNT	TER	NP
NLEX	BGSM	MAG	BWE	NP	MER	PHX	TNT	ROS	SMB	ALA	TER
NorthPort	BWE	PHX	ROS	NLEX	TER	TNT	BGSM	ALA	MAG	SMB	MER
Phoenix Super LPG	MER	NP	TNT	BGSM	MAG	NLEX	ALA	TER	SMB	BWE	ROS
Rain or Shine	SMB	TER	NP	ALA	BGSM	NLEX	MER	MAG	BWE	TNT	PHX
San Miguel	MAG	ROS	TNT	TER	ALA	MER	BWE	PHX	NLEX	BGSM	NP
Terrafirma	TNT	ROS	SMB	NP	ALA	PHX	MAG	BWE	MER	BGSM	NLEX
TNT	ALA	TER	SMB	PHX	BWE	NLEX	NP	MAG	BGSM	MER	ROS

Source: PBA.ph
= Win; = OT win; = Loss; = OT loss

Results

Teams	ALA	BGSM	BWE	MAG	MER	NLEX	NP	PHX	ROS	SMB	TER	TNT
Alaska	—	81–87	120–82	87–81	81–93	122–119*	102–94	105–97	89–88	88–92	99–96	95–100
Barangay Ginebra		—	103–99	92–102	105–91	102–92	112–100	86–71	82–85*	66–81	102–80	85–79
Blackwater			—	80–95	85–89	98–88	96–89	95–100	71–82	88–90*	101–110	96–109
Magnolia				—	104–109*	103–100	83–76	84–91	70–62	78–94	103–89	102–92
Meralco					—	101–92	80–73	98–116	85–78	82–89	95–93	79–92
NLEX						—	102–88	110–114	94–74	124–90	127–101	109–98
NorthPort							—	105–110	68–70	99–120	107–96	87–112
Phoenix Super LPG								—	90–88	110–103	116–94	91–110
Rain or Shine									—	87–83	91–82	80–74
San Miguel										—	105–98	88–107
Terrafirma											—	101–112
TNT												—

Source: PBA.ph results, PBA.ph schedule
Legend: Blue = left column team win; Red = top row team win.
Matches with lighter background shading were decided after overtime.

Bracket


Quarterfinals				Semifinals (Best-of-5)			Finals (Best-of-7)

(#1 twice-to-beat)

1	Barangay Ginebra		81

8	Rain or Shine		73
				1	Barangay Ginebra	3
(#4 twice-to-beat)
				5	Meralco	2
4	San Miguel	71	68

5	Meralco	78	90
							1	Barangay Ginebra	4
(#2 twice-to-beat)
							3	TNT	1
2	Phoenix		89

7	Magnolia		88
				2	Phoenix	2
(#3 twice-to-beat)
				3	TNT	3
3	TNT		104

6	Alaska		83

Quarterfinals

(1) Barangay Ginebra vs. (8) Rain or Shine

TV5

November 13
6:45 pm

Box score

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 81, Rain or Shine Elasto Painters 73
Scoring by quarter: 20–22, 20–15, 19–18, 22–18
Pts: J. Aguilar 23 Rebs: J. Aguilar 11 Asts: Tenorio 8		Pts: Borboran 13 Rebs: Belga 8 Asts: Nambatac 5
Barangay Ginebra wins series in one game

AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center, Angeles City
Referees: P. Balao, R. Gruta, B. Oliva, M. Flordeliza

(2) Phoenix vs. (7) Magnolia

One Sports

November 14
6:45 pm

Box score

Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters 89, Magnolia Hotshots 88
Scoring by quarter:24–21, 13–18, 29–24, 23–25
Pts: Wright 32 Rebs: Abueva 8 Asts: Wright 9		Pts: Lee 17 Rebs: Sangalang 11 Asts: Lee 6
Phoenix wins series in one game

AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center, Angeles City
Referees: J. Mariano, M. Flordeliza, J. Narandan, M. Orioste

(3) TNT vs. (6) Alaska

One Sports

November 14
4:00 pm

Box score

TNT Tropang Giga 104, Alaska Aces 83
Scoring by quarter:28–23, 23–28, 33–15, 20–17
Pts: Pogoy 34 Rebs: Erram 11 Asts: Castro, Parks 5		Pts: Teng 13 Rebs: Manuel, Teng 7 Asts: Teng 6
TNT wins series in one game

AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center, Angeles City
Referees: N. Quilinguen, R. Yante, M. Montoya, J. Nicandro

(4) San Miguel vs. (5) Meralco

TV5

November 13
4:00 pm

Box score

San Miguel Beermen 71, Meralco Bolts 78
Scoring by quarter: 11–21, 20–19, 20–19, 20–19
Pts: Tautuaa 14 Rebs: Tautuaa 11 Asts: Ross 7		Pts: Hugnatan 16 Rebs: Quinto 13 Asts: Newsome 9

AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center, Angeles City
Referees: N. Quilinguen, R. Yante, J. Narandan, J. Tantay

TV5

November 15
6:45 pm

Box score

San Miguel Beermen 68, Meralco Bolts 90
Scoring by quarter: 11–21, 20–22, 19–32, 18–15
Pts: Lassiter, Tautuaa 20 Rebs: Tautuaa 11 Asts: Ross 6		Pts: Amer, Hodge 14 Rebs: Hugnatan 8 Asts: Newsome 5
Meralco wins series in two games

AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center, Angeles City
Referees: P. Balao, R. Gruta, B. Oliva, M. Flordeliza

Semifinals

(1) Barangay Ginebra vs. (5) Meralco

TV5

November 18
6:30 pm

Box score

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 96, Meralco Bolts 79
Scoring by quarter:21–17, 27–19, 23–18, 25–25
Pts: Pringle 19 Rebs: Thompson 9 Asts: Thompson 8		Pts: Maliksi 24 Rebs: Hugnatan 5 Asts: Newsome 4

AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center, Angeles City
Referees: N. Quilinguen, J. Mariano, M. Montoya, M. Orioste

TV5

November 20
3:45 pm

Box score

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 77, Meralco Bolts 95
Scoring by quarter:27–23, 23–19, 11–23, 16–30
Pts: J. Aguilar 17 Rebs: Thompson 9 Asts: Thompson 5		Pts: Newsome 16 Rebs: Almazan, Hodge 11 Asts: Newsome 6

AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center, Angeles City
Referees: P. Balao, R. Gruta, B. Oliva, J. Baldago

TV5

November 22
6:30 pm

Box score

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 91, Meralco Bolts 84
Scoring by quarter:27–12, 18–22, 19–18, 27–32
Pts: Pringle 24 Rebs: J. Aguilar 13 Asts: Pringle 6		Pts: Maliksi 23 Rebs: Almazan 9 Asts: Hodge, Newsome 6

AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center, Angeles City
Referees: J. Mariano, R. Yante, J. Narandan, J. Nicandro

TV5

November 25
3:45 pm

Box score

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 80, Meralco Bolts 83
Scoring by quarter: 21–26, 10–18, 33–16, 16–23
Pts: Pringle 18 Rebs: J. Aguilar 12 Asts: Pringle 6		Pts: Hugnatan 19 Rebs: Newsome 11 Asts: Newsome 5

AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center, Angeles City
Referees: N. Quilinguen, R. Gruta, M. Montoya, J. Baldago

TV5

November 27
6:30 pm

Box score

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 83, Meralco Bolts 80
Scoring by quarter:17–14, 16–17, 22–28, 28–21
Pts: Pringle 22 Rebs: Thompson 12 Asts: Thompson 7		Pts: Newsome 15 Rebs: Hodge 7 Asts: Newsome 6
Barangay Ginebra wins series, 3–2

AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center, Angeles City
Referees: J. Mariano, M. Flordeliza, J. Narandan, M. Orioste

(2) Phoenix vs. (3) TNT

TV5

November 18
3:45 pm

Box score

Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters 92, TNT Tropang Giga 95
Scoring by quarter:24–16, 13–20, 24–31, 31–28
Pts: Jazul 21 Rebs: Chua 13 Asts: Heruela 5		Pts: Castro 20 Rebs: Erram 14 Asts: Castro 6

AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center, Angeles City
Referees: P. Balao, R. Yante, R. Gruta, M. Flordeliza

TV5

November 20
6:30 pm

Box score

Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters 110, TNT Tropang Giga 103
Scoring by quarter:28–27, 32–18, 26–35, 24–23
Pts: Perkins 21 Rebs: Abueva 15 Asts: Abueva 4		Pts: Parks 41 Rebs: Rosario 14 Asts: Pogoy 4

AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center, Angeles City
Referees: N. Quilinguen, J. Mariano, J. Narandan, J. Nicandro

TV5

November 22
3:45 pm

Box score

Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters 92, TNT Tropang Giga 89
Scoring by quarter: 22–24, 27–23, 24–22, 19–20
Pts: Wright 25 Rebs: Abueva 14 Asts: Abueva 6		Pts: Parks 19 Rebs: Erram, Parks 13 Asts: Parks 6

AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center, Angeles City
Referees: P. Balao, R. Gruta, J. Narandan, J. Baldago

TV5

November 25
6:30 pm

Box score

Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters 101, TNT Tropang Giga 102
Scoring by quarter: 12–21, 26–27, 30–21, 33–33
Pts: Wright 34 Rebs: Abueva 13 Asts: Wright 9		Pts: Parks 36 Rebs: Rosario 7 Asts: Castro 5

AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center, Angeles City
Referees: J. Mariano, R. Yante, M. Orioste, J. Narandan

TV5

November 27
3:45 pm

Box score

Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters 81, TNT Tropang Giga 91
Scoring by quarter: 20–25, 14–15, 19–22, 28–29
Pts: Abueva 23 Rebs: Abueva 13 Asts: Abueva 6		Pts: Parks 26 Rebs: Parks 10 Asts: Castro, Parks 6
TNT wins series, 3–2

AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center, Angeles City
Referees: R. Yante, R. Gruta, M. Montoya, J. Baldago

Finals

TV5

November 29
6:00 pm

Box score

Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 100, TNT Tropang Giga 94 (OT)