PBA PH Cup elimination round schedule

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Basketball Association released the schedule for its 2014-2015 Philippine Cup Conference on Friday, October 3.

The 40th season of the league will begin on Sunday, October 19, at the brand-new Philippine Arena in Bulacan, with the opening ceremonies taking place at 1:30 pm.

At 3:00 pm, new expansion teams KIA Sorentos and Blackwater Elite will go head to head followed by the matchup between the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel at 5:15 pm.

The second playing date will take place on October 21, Tuesday, at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum with the Global Port Batang Pier taking on the NLEX Road Warriors at 4:15 pm, followed by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters vs. San Miguel Beermen at 7:00 pm.

Defending PBA Grand Slam champion San Mig Coffee Mixers will open their championship defense on October 22, Wednesday, when they go up against the Alaska Aces at 7:00 pm at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

The first out of town PBA game of the 40th season will be held in Lucena City on October 25, Saturday, when Barangay Ginebra goes up against Kia at 5:00 pm.

The Philippine Cup will have 12 franchises in action with a single round robin format for the eliminations. Each team will play 11 games each with the top two squads advancing straight to the semifinal round.

The bottom two teams will automatically be eliminated, while the middle-ranked clubs will participate in the quarterfinals. See image for the quarterfinals format.

The winners of the matches will take on each other for the right to battle with the top two seeds of the eliminations in a couple of seven-game series.

Whoever advances to the finals will also have to duel in a seven-game series to determine who will take the Philippine Cup title.

Weekday playdates will take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, with the first game tipping off at 4:15 pm and the second contest commencing at 7:00 pm.

Saturdays will be reserved for out of town games and will take place at 5:00 pm. On Sundays, the first game will begin at 3:15 pm while the second matchup will start at 5:15 pm.

Besides Lucena City, the league will hold out of town games also in Lanao Del Norte, Davao City, Cagayan De Oro City, Laguna City, and Dipolog City.

Most of the games held in Manila will take place at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum, with the Mall of Asia Arena, Cuneta Astrodome, and Ynares Center Antipolo also playing host to some contests.

View the full schedule of the 2014-2015 PBA Philippine Cup elimination round below:

– Rappler.com