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Dates | December 1–7, 2024 | |||||||||
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MVP | Justine Baltazar | |||||||||
Northern finals | Pampanga def. San Juan, 2–0 | |||||||||
Southern finals | Quezon def. Batangas City, 2–1 | |||||||||
The 2024 MPBL finals was the championship series of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's (MPBL) 2024 season and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. In the best-of-five playoff, the North Division champion Pampanga Giant Lanterns defeated the South Division champion Quezon Huskers to become the first team in the league to win two championships and to do so in back-to-back seasons. The series began on December 1 and ended on December 7.
The league played the first two games of the series in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, marking the first time a Philippine basketball league will play its championship series overseas. The league then returned home for the remainder of the series, where Pampanga, being the team with the higher regular season record, had homecourt advantage. [1]
For the second time in a row, both teams featured will be based in Luzon but not Metro Manila. In addition, this will also be second time overall that a returning finalist or former champion will be featured, as well as the second time that one of the finalists is not a first seed in their respective division.
The first two games of the series will be played in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, aiming to attract the country's large Filipino population, particularly in Dubai. The MPBL previously played two regular season games in Dubai in 2019 for their inaugural International Invasion series at Hamdan Sports Complex. [2] This time, the league's international games will take place at the Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall and will be organized by DJMC, the same group behind the previous leg of Dubai games. [1] [3]
The Pampanga Giant Lanterns entered the 2024 season as defending champions, having beaten the Bacoor City Strikers in last season's finals. The team kept their star players including Justine Baltazar, Encho Serrano, and Archie Concepcion heading into their title defense, and also won the Preseason Invitational in February. The Giant Lanterns suffered an early defeat when they lost to the Rizal Golden Coolers in their first game of the season, but were able to win a record 23 straight regular season games afterwards. The team was able to match their 26–2 record from last season, but only finished as the second seed due to having lost their regular season game against the San Juan Knights later down the line. In the playoffs, Pampanga once again swept their opponents on their way to the national stage, beating the expansion Abra Weavers in the division quarterfinals, [5] their Central Luzon rival Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards in the division semifinals, [6] [7] and ultimately defeating first-seeded San Juan all in two games to win their second division title. [8] [9]
Pampanga became the first team since the 2020 San Juan Knights to clinch back-to-back division championships. Should they win the series, the Giant Lanterns will become the first two-time champions and the first to do so in back-to-back seasons.
The Quezon Huskers entered the 2024 season coming off a division quarterfinals loss to the Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines last season. The team acquired the likes of Ljay Gonzales and former league MVP Gab Banal as the team managed to go undefeated for sixteen games, but then went on a slump, going 5–7 in their last twelve games of the season. Despite that, the Huskers held on to the top seed of the South Division after improving to a 21–7 record. The Huskers cruised through the first two rounds, beating both the Negros Muscovados and the Parañaque Patriots in two games before meeting the Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters in the division finals. [10] [11] Quezon first lost game 1 and were on the verge of being eliminated in game 2 before going on a scoring run in the final minutes of the game, culminating in a game-winning tip-in by Jason Opiso to force game 3. [12] [13] [14] The Huskers tied the series and went on to win the do-or-die game 3 to clinch their first division championship. [15] [16]
Quezon became the first professional era expansion team to reach the national finals and the third Calabarzon-based team to do so, after Batangas City in 2018 and Bacoor City in 2023. Should they win the series, the Huskers will become the second Calabarzon-based team to win the league title, also after Batangas City in 2018.
Pampanga Giant Lanterns (North Division champion) | Quezon Huskers (South Division champion) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Source: Standings Notes:
| Regular season |
Source: Standings Notes: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Defeated 7th-seeded Abra Weavers, 2–0 | Division quarterfinals | Defeated 8th-seeded Negros Muscovados, 2–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Defeated 3rd-seeded Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards, 2–0 | Division semifinals | Defeated 5th-seeded Parañaque Patriots, 2–0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Defeated 1st-seeded San Juan Knights, 2–0 | Division finals | Defeated 2nd-seeded Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters, 2–1 |
September 14 08:00 pm |
Pampanga Giant Lanterns | 75–69 | Quezon Huskers |
Scoring by quarter:21–14, 20–19, 18–24, 16–12 | ||
Pts: Archie Concepcion 30 Rebs: Justine Baltazar 17 Asts: Justine Baltazar, Kurt Reyson 3 | Pts: LJ Gonzales 13 Rebs: LJ Gonzales 8 Asts: Niño Ibañez 6 |
For this year's national finals, the Pampanga Giant Lanterns will hold homecourt advantage for the series, as they hold a better regular season record compared to the Quezon Huskers (26–2 vs. 21–7).
Game | Date | Winning team | Result (Series) | Losing team | Venue |
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1 | December 1 | Pampanga Giant Lanterns | 88–71 (1–0) | Quezon Huskers | ![]() |
2 | December 3 | Pampanga Giant Lanterns | 79–60 (2–0) | Quezon Huskers | ![]() |
3 | December 7 | Pampanga Giant Lanterns | 65–61 (3–0) | Quezon Huskers | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center |
December 1 11:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. GST) |
Pampanga Giant Lanterns | 88–71 | Quezon Huskers |
Scoring by quarter:24–20, 23–15, 23–23, 18–13 | ||
Pts: Justine Baltazar 24 Rebs: Justine Baltazar 16 Asts: Michael John Garcia 8 | Pts: Rodel Gravera 20 Rebs: Christian Buñag, Judel Ric Fuentes 6 Asts: Mon Abundo 7 | |
Pampanga leads series, 1–0 |
Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall, Dubai Referees: A. Manzano, C. Pingul Jr., M. Binay |
December 3 11:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. GST) |
Quezon Huskers | 60–79 | Pampanga Giant Lanterns |
Scoring by quarter: 18–22, 14–25, 10–16, 18–16 | ||
Pts: Judel Ric Fuentes 12 Rebs: Rodel Gravera 11 Asts: Mon Abundo 4 | Pts: Kurt Reyson 20 Rebs: Justine Baltazar 19 Asts: Kurt Reyson 7 | |
Pampanga leads series, 2–0 |
Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall, Dubai |
December 7 7:00 p.m. |
Pampanga Giant Lanterns | 65–61 | Quezon Huskers |
Scoring by quarter:12–8, 18–19, 16–20, 19–14 | ||
Pts: Justine Baltazar, Archie Concepcion 19 Rebs: Justine Baltazar 19 Asts: Michael John Garcia 5 | Pts: Judel Ric Fuentes 21 Rebs: RJ Minerva 8 Asts: Ximone Sandagon, Alfrancis Tamsi 2 | |
Pampanga wins series, 3–0 |
Players | Coaches | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Updated as of: July 2, 2024 |
Players | Coaches |
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Updated as of: April 20, 2024 |
This will be the third national finals series under Cignal TV's broadcast deal. The games will be broadcast on television via Media Pilipinas TV (MPTV) and will also be streamed on Pilipinas Live and the league's social media channels.
Game | Media Pilipinas TV (MPTV) | ||
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Play-by-play | Analyst | Courtside reporters | |
1 | Cedelf Tupas | Mike Perez | Andrea Endicio and Mica Abesamis |
2 | Cedelf Tupas | Mike Perez | Andrea Endicio and Mica Abesamis |
3 | Migs Gomez | Javi Palaña | Andrea Endicio and Mica Abesamis |
The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines consisting of 29 teams as of the 2024 season.
The Pampanga Giant Lanterns, also known as Pampanga Giant Lanterns – AMG3 Construction for sponsorship reasons, are a Filipino professional basketball team based in San Fernando, Pampanga. The team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as a member of the league's North Division. They are one of five teams based in the Central Luzon region and mainly play their home games at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center.
The Bacoor City Strikers were a Filipino professional basketball team, based in Bacoor, Cavite. The team last competed in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and played their home games at Strike Gymnasium.
The 2022 MPBL season was the fourth season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and the first as a professional league. The regular season began on April 25, 2022, with opening ceremonies at the Batangas City Sports Coliseum in Batangas City, Batangas, and ended on October 13. The 2022 MPBL All-Star Game was also held at the Batangas City Coliseum on October 2. The playoffs then began on October 15 and ended on December 12 when the Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards defeated the Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines in four games in the 2022 MPBL finals.
The 2022 MPBL playoffs was the postseason tournament of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's 2022 season, the league's fourth overall, and the third under the 16-team format. The postseason tournament began on October 15, 2022, two days after the end of the regular season on October 13, 2022, and concluded on December 12, 2022, following the conclusion of the 2022 MPBL finals.
The 2023 MPBL season was the fifth season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and the second as a professional league. The regular season began on March 11, 2023 with the opening ceremonies at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena. The 2023 MPBL All-Star Game was held at Bataan People's Center in Balanga, Bataan on September 16. The league took two breaks during the regular season, during Holy Week and during the Philippines' co-hosting of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup. The playoffs then began on October 6 and ended on December 2 when the Pampanga Giant Lanterns defeated the Bacoor City Strikers in three games in the 2023 MPBL finals.
The 2023 MPBL playoffs was the postseason tournament of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's 2023 season, the league's fifth overall, and the fourth under the 16-team format. The postseason tournament began on October 6, three days after the end of the regular season, and ended on December 2, 2023.
The 2023 MPBL finals was the championship series of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's (MPBL) 2023 season and the conclusion of the season's playoffs. In the best-of-five playoff, the North Division champion Pampanga Giant Lanterns faced the South Division champion Bacoor City Strikers, with both teams having not won an MPBL title nor appeared in the MPBL finals before, this series would determine which team becomes the league's fifth different champions. The series began on November 25, 2023 and ended on December 2, 2023.
Michael Vincent Galang Juico is a Filipino professional basketball player for the Pangasinan Heatwaves franchise of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and Pilipinas Super League (PSL).
The 2024 MPBL season was the sixth season of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and its third under professional status. The regular season began on April 6, 2024 with the opening ceremonies at the Calasiao Sports Complex in Calasiao, Pangasinan, and ended on October 1. The 2024 MPBL All-Star Game was held at the Mayor Vitaliano D. Agan Coliseum in Zamboanga City on September 7. The playoffs began on October 5 and ended on December 7 with the 2024 MPBL finals between the Pampanga Giant Lanterns and Quezon Huskers.
The 2024 MPBL playoffs was the postseason tournament of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's 2024 season, the league's sixth overall, and the fifth under the 16-team format. The postseason tournament began on October 5, four days after the conclusion of the regular season, and ended on December 7, 2024. For sponsorship reasons, this year's playoffs is also known as the 2024 MPBL Playoffs presented by Xtreme and MPBL Partylist.
The Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards and San Juan Knights first met in 2019 in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, but the rivalry began getting fierce as both teams became contenders. Following their title clash in the 2022 FilBasket Summer Championship, both teams have fought for North Division contention in the MPBL, playing each other in back-to-back playoff series.
The 2022 Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards season was the second season of the franchise in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL).
The 2023 Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards season was the third season of the franchise in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL).
The MPBL national finals or MPBL finals is the annual championship series of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL). The North and South Division champions compete in a best-of-five series to determine the league champion.
The Pampanga Giant Lanterns and San Juan Knights both joined the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) as expanion teams for its 2018–19 season. The two teams have consistently faced off in the playoffs, particularly in the mid-2020s when they are battling spot in the finals of both the MPBL and the Pilipinas Super League (PSL). As of November 11, 2024, San Juan and Pampanga tied the all-time series 7–7.