# 2021 PBA Philippine Cup finals

The 2021 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup finals was a best-of-7 championship series of the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup, and the conclusion of the conference's playoffs. The TNT Tropang Giga and the Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots competed for the 43rd Philippine Cup championship and the 129th overall championship contested by the league.
This was the first time that the two teams meet in the finals since the 2014 Commissioner's Cup, where Magnolia (named as San Mig Super Coffee Mixers during that time) won the championship against TNT (named as Talk 'N Text Tropang Texters during that time), three games to one.
TNT defeated Magnolia, four games to one, to win the franchise's sixth Philippine Cup (8 years after their last Philippine Cup championship in 2013) and their 8th title overall. This was the first PBA title by a franchise not owned by the San Miguel Corporation since the 2016 PBA Commissioner's Cup. Mikey Williams was named the finals' MVP.

## Background
### Road to the finals

| TNT Tropang Giga | TNT Tropang Giga | Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots | Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots |
| Finished 10–1 (.909) in 1st place | Elimination round | Elimination round | Finished 8–3 (.727) in 3rd place |
| Def. Barangay Ginebra in one game (twice-to-beat advantage) | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Def. Rain or Shine, 2–0 (best-of-three) |
| Def. San Miguel, 4–3 | Semifinals | Semifinals | Def. Meralco, 4–2 |

### Head-to-head matchup

* One Sports
* September 5 4:35 pm
* Box score
TNT Tropang Giga 83, Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots 76 :
| Scoring by quarter: 15–15, 20–17, 24–20, 24–24 |||
| Pts: Castro 17 Rebs: K. Williams 15 Asts: M. Williams 5 | Pts: Abueva 23 Rebs: Sangalang 10 Asts: Jalalon 4 |
* DHSVU Gym, Bacolor, Pampanga Referees: Nol Quilinguen, Janine Nicandro, Joel Baldago

## Series summary

| Game | Date | Venue | Winner | Result |
| Game 1 | October 20 | DHSVU Gym | TNT | 88–70 |
| Game 2 | October 22 | DHSVU Gym | TNT | 105–93 |
| Game 3 | October 24 | DHSVU Gym | Magnolia | 106–98 |
| Game 4 | October 27 | DHSVU Gym | TNT | 106–89 |
| Game 5 | October 29 | DHSVU Gym | TNT | 94–79 |

## Game summaries
### Game 1

* One Sports
* October 20 6:00 pm
* Box score
TNT Tropang Giga 88, Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots 70 :
| Scoring by quarter: 24–14, 29–20, 21–14, 14–22 |||
| Pts: M. Williams 21 Rebs: M. Williams 10 Asts: M. Williams 5 | Pts: Corpuz, Lee 12 Rebs: Abueva, Corpuz 11 Asts: Jalalon 3 |
| TNT leads series, 1–0 |||
* DHSVU Gym, Bacolor, Pampanga Referees: Jimmy Mariano, Mike Flordeliza, Albert Nubla, Jeffrey Tantay

### Game 2

* One Sports
* October 22 6:00 pm
* Box score
TNT Tropang Giga 105, Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots 93 :
| Scoring by quarter: 40–27, 26–23, 20–29, 19–14 |||
| Pts: M. Williams 28 Rebs: Erram 12 Asts: M. Williams 6 | Pts: Sangalang 25 Rebs: Abueva 11 Asts: Jalalon 8 |
| TNT leads series, 2–0 |||
* DHSVU Gym, Bacolor, Pampanga Referees: Nol Quilingen, Rommel Gruta, Joel Baldago, Brian Peclaro

### Game 3

* One Sports
* October 24 4:35 pm
* Box score
TNT Tropang Giga 98, Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots 106 :
| Scoring by quarter: 20–26, 26–26, 31–30, 21–24 |||
| Pts: M. Williams 39 Rebs: Erram 11 Asts: Heruela 5 | Pts: Lee 21 Rebs: Reavis 9 Asts: Sangalang 5 |
| TNT leads series, 2–1 |||
* DHSVU Gym, Bacolor, Pampanga Referees: Peter Balao, Sherwin Pineda, Janine Nicandro, Kenny Hallig

### Game 4

* One Sports
* October 27 6:00 pm
* Box score
TNT Tropang Giga 106, Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots 89 :
| Scoring by quarter: 24–24, 33–15, 25–28, 24–22 |||
| Pts: M. Williams 26 Rebs: K. Williams 7 Asts: M. Williams 7 | Pts: Abueva 28 Rebs: Sangalang 10 Asts: Jalalon 8 |
| TNT leads series, 3–1 |||
* DHSVU Gym, Bacolor, Pampanga Referees: Nol Quiliguen, Rommel Gruta, Albert Nubla, Joel Baldago
Prior to the game, Magnolia's Calvin Abueva was awarded his second Best Player of the Conference award, beating TNT's Mikey Williams and Abueva's teammate, Ian Sangalang, to the award.

### Game 5

* One Sports
* October 29 6:00 pm
* Box score
TNT Tropang Giga 94, Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots 79 :
| Scoring by quarter: 21–14, 26–19, 25–20, 22–26 |||
| Pts: M. Williams 24 Rebs: Erram 10 Asts: M. Williams 4 | Pts: Sangalang 18 Rebs: Reavis 10 Asts: Barroca 6 |
| TNT wins series, 4–1 |||
* DHSVU Gym, Bacolor, Pampanga Referees: Jimmy Mariano, Sherwin Pineda, Rommel Gruta, Mike Flordeliza

## Broadcast notes

The Philippine Cup finals were aired on TV5 with simulcasts on One Sports and PBA Rush (both in standard and high definition). TV5's radio arm, Radyo5 provided the radio play-by-play coverage.
One Sports provided online livestreaming via the PusoPilipinas and Smart Sports Facebook pages using the TV5 and PBA Rush feeds respectively.
The PBA Rush broadcast provided English-language coverage of the finals.
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the TV and radio panel commentaries except for the courtside reporter were conducted offsite from the TV5 Media Center in Mandaluyong.
| Game | TV5 | TV5 | PBA Rush (English) | PBA Rush (English) | Courtside reporters |
| Game | Play-by-play | Analyst(s) | Play-by-play | Analyst(s) | Courtside reporters |
| Game 1 | Charlie Cuna | Richard del Rosario | Paolo del Rosario | Ryan Gregorio | Carlo Pamintuan |
| Game 2 | Magoo Marjon | Ryan Gregorio | Anthony Suntay | Ali Peek | Carlo Pamintuan |
| Game 3 | Charlie Cuna | Dominic Uy | Paolo del Rosario | Richard del Rosario | Carlo Pamintuan |
| Game 4 | Magoo Marjon | Eric Reyes | Jutt Sulit | Tony dela Cruz | Carlo Pamintuan |
| Game 5 | Charlie Cuna | Richard del Rosario | Paolo del Rosario | Ryan Gregorio | Carlo Pamintuan |
* Additional Game 5 crew:
** Trophy presentation: Carlo Pamintuan
** Celebration interviewers: Carlo Pamintuan