The 2017 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner's Cup finals was the best-of-7 championship series of the 2017 PBA Commissioner's Cup and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. The San Miguel Beermen and the TNT KaTropa competed for the 17th Commissioner's Cup championship and the 120th overall championship contested by the league.
Background San Miguel, coming off a title in the 2016–17 Philippine Cup, signed international veteran Charles Rhodes as their import. Alongside Rhodes, leading the way for them were three-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and the guard duo of Alex Cabagnot and Chris Ross, who were both in the running for the Best Player of the Conference award. This was San Miguel's first Commissioner's Cup finals appearance in 16 years.
TNT, on the other hand, accomplished a semifinal appearance in first-year head coach Nash Racela's debut conference. They signed Denzel Bowles as their import, who had led the then B-Meg Llamados to the 2012 Commissioner's Cup title. Leading the way for TNT was Jayson Castro, alongside a young core of RR Pogoy (a rookie second among the team's locals in scoring), Troy Rosario, and Moala Tautuaa. Throughout the elimination round, TNT changed their import three times as Bowles was swapped for Lou Amundson, then Donté Greene, before settling on Joshua Smith. As the fourth seed, they defeated the Meralco Bolts and Barangay Ginebra for their first finals appearance since 2015. However, Smith suffered a foot injury in the semifinals, putting his health in question for the finals.
Road to the finals
San Miguel Beermen TNT KaTropa Finished 9–2 (.818): Tied with Barangay Ginebra and Star at 1st place Elimination round Finished 8–3 (.727): 4th place 1–1 (2nd place) Tiebreaker* bye Def. Phoenix in one game, 115–96 (twice-to-beat advantage) Quarterfinals Def. Meralco, 2–1 Def. Star, 3–1 Semifinals Def. Barangay Ginebra, 3–1
Head-to-head matchup
Series summary Game Date Venue Winner Result Game 1 June 21 Smart Araneta Coliseum TNT 104–102 Game 2 June 23 San Miguel 102–88 Game 3 June 25 San Miguel 109–97 Game 4 June 28 TNT 102–97 Game 5 June 30 San Miguel 111–102 Game 6 July 2 San Miguel 115–91
Game summaries
Game 1
Game 2
Game 3
Game 4 Prior to the game, San Miguel's Chris Ross was awarded his first Best Player of the Conference award, beating his teammate Alex Cabagnot and TNT's Jayson Castro, to the award.
Game 5
Game 6
Rosters
Broadcast notes The Philippine Cup Finals was aired on TV5 with simulcasts on PBA Rush (both in standard and high definition). TV5's radio arm, Radyo5 provided the radio play-by-play coverage.
Sports5 also provided online livestreaming via their official YouTube account using the TV5 feed.
The PBA Rush broadcast provided English-language coverage of the Finals.
Game Sports5 PBA Rush (English)Play-by-play Analyst(s) Courtside reporters Play-by-play Analyst(s) Courtside reportersGame 1 Magoo Marjon Andy Jao and Yeng Guiao Rizza Diaz Jutt Sulit Ali Peek Apple DavidGame 2 Anthony Suntay Andy Jao and Ryan Gregorio Selina Dagdag Chiqui Reyes Charles Tiu Chino Lui PioGame 3 Sev Sarmenta Ryan Gregorio and Dominic Uy Sel Guevara James Velasquez Don Allado Carla LizardoGame 4 Charlie Cuna Eric Reyes and Jason Webb Rizza Diaz Jutt Sulit Chuck Araneta Mara AquinoGame 5 Sev Sarmenta Andy Jao and Ryan Gregorio Selina Dagdag Carlo Pamintuan Jong Uichico Apple DavidGame 6 Magoo Marjon Dominic Uy and Yeng Guiao Rizza Diaz Chiqui Reyes Jong Uichico Chino Lui Pio Additional Game 6 crew: Trophy presentation: James Velasquez Dugout celebration interviewer: Sel Guevara
References
External links PBA official website