# 2024 MPBL finals

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.
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.

## Background
### International games

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. 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.

### Pampanga Giant Lanterns

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, their Central Luzon rival Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards in the division semifinals, and ultimately defeating first-seeded San Juan all in two games to win their second division title.
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.

### Quezon Huskers

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. 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. The Huskers tied the series and went on to win the do-or-die game 3 to clinch their first division championship.
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.

## Road to the finals

| Pampanga Giant Lanterns (North Division champion) | | Quezon Huskers (South Division champion) |
| Pos Teamvte Pld W L GB 1 San Juan Knights 28 26 2 — 2 Pampanga Giant Lanterns 28 26 2 — 3 Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards 28 24 4 2 4 Manila Batang Sampaloc 28 20 8 6 5 Caloocan Batang Kankaloo 28 19 9 7 6 Pasay Voyagers 28 18 10 8 7 Abra Weavers 28 18 10 8 8 Rizal Golden Coolers 28 15 13 11 9 Quezon City Toda Aksyon 28 15 13 11 10 Valenzuela Classic 28 14 14 12 11 Pangasinan Heatwaves 28 12 16 14 12 Bataan Risers 28 9 19 17 13 Marikina Shoemasters 28 7 21 19 14 Bulacan Kuyas 28 2 26 24 WD Tarlac United Force 0 0 0 12 Source: Standings Notes: 1 2 San Juan wins tiebreaker over Pampanga based on head-to-head record. 1 2 Pasay wins tiebreaker over Abra based on head-to-head record. 1 2 Rizal wins tiebreaker over Quezon City based on head-to-head record. ↑ The Tarlac United Force was pulled out by the league due to the team's failure to comply with financial obligations. | Regular season | Pos Teamvte Pld W L GB 1 Quezon Huskers 28 21 7 — 2 Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters 28 20 8 1 3 Biñan Tatak Gel 28 20 8 1 4 Zamboanga Master Sardines 28 20 8 1 5 Parañaque Patriots 28 17 11 4 6 South Cotabato Warriors 28 17 11 4 7 Davao Occidental Tigers 28 15 13 6 8 Negros Muscovados 28 12 16 9 9 Iloilo United Royals 28 11 17 10 10 Mindoro Tamaraws 28 10 18 11 11 Muntinlupa Cagers 28 7 21 14 12 Sarangani Marlins 28 5 23 16 13 Bicolandia Oragons 28 3 25 18 14 Imus Agimat 28 2 26 19 15 Bacolod City of Smiles 28 1 27 20 Source: Standings Notes: 1 2 3 Batangas City (1.132), Biñan (0.950), and Zamboanga (0.931) are ranked based on head-to-head point quotient. 1 2 Parañaque wins tiebreaker over South Cotabato based on head-to-head record. |
| 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 |

### Head-to-head matchup

* MPTV
* September 14 08:00 pm
* Boxscore
| 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 |
* AUF Sports and Cultural Center, Angeles City

## Series summary

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 |
| 1 | December 1 | Pampanga Giant Lanterns | 88–71 (1–0) | Quezon Huskers | Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall |
| 2 | December 3 | Pampanga Giant Lanterns | 79–60 (2–0) | Quezon Huskers | Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall |
| 3 | December 7 | Pampanga Giant Lanterns | 65–61 (3–0) | Quezon Huskers | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center |

## Game summaries

    NOTE: All times are Philippine Standard Time (UTC+8:00). Games in the UAE are also listed in Gulf Standard Time (UTC+4:00).

### Game 1

* MPTV
* December 1 11:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. GST)
* Boxscore
| Pampanga Giant Lanterns | 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

### Game 2

* MPTV
* December 3 11:00 p.m. (7:00 p.m. GST)
* Boxscore
| Quezon Huskers | 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

### Game 3

* MPTV
* December 7 7:00 p.m.
* Boxscore
| Pampanga Giant Lanterns | 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 |||
* Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center, San Fernando, Pampanga

## Broadcasting

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) | Media Pilipinas TV (MPTV) | Media Pilipinas TV (MPTV) |
| Game | 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 |