San Miguel def TNT, 115-99 [Season 47 PH Cup | July 7, 2022]

San Miguel and TNT clash in a duel of hot streaking teams Thursday in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The front runners in the fight for the two twice-to-beat spots in the quarterfinals, the Beermen and the Tropang Giga mix it up at 7:15 p.m., each side looking to extend their scorching drive.

The Beermen are on a three-game run and at 6-1 overall, soaring high despite a short-handed lineup with injuries to Terrence Romeo, Chis Ross and Vic Manuel, while the Tropang Giga are at 7-2, smoldering on a five-game streak that gained much traction on the entry of Season 46 Rookie of the Year/Mythical Five awardee Mikey Williams.

Even with Moala Tautuaa (dealing with infection) decimating the SMB lineup even more the last time, the Beermen sustained their rampage with a 122-106 rout of the NorthPort Batang Pier that sealed their quarterfinals entry.

“We came at it, picked up our defense in the fourth and we started hitting fastbreak points. Those were the keys (to the breakaway),” said Rob Herndon, a SMB preseason trade acquisition who exploded for a career-high 21 points versus the Batang Pier.

Marcio Lassiter, June Mar Fajardo and CJ Perez had their usual numbers as the Beermen cut loose from a nip-and-tuck contest marked by 55-all deadlock at the half and 82-all tie through the first three periods.

But there’s no stopping the Beermen as they picked up the pace in the payoff period en route to regaining top spot in the standings, with the elims heading to the crucial stretch of the rumble for the eight berths in the post-elims play.