# 2024 Pampanga Giant Lanterns season

The 2024 Pampanga Giant Lanterns season was the fifth season of the Pampanga-based franchise in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and their third season in San Fernando.
The Giant Lanterns entered this season as defending champions having beaten the Bacoor City Strikers in the 2023 MPBL finals. The team kept its star players in Justine Baltazar, Encho Serrano, and Archie Concepcion. After winning the 2024 Preseason Invitational, the team shockingly lost the first game of its title defense to the Rizal Golden Coolers. The team then went on a 23-game winning streak that lasted from April 15 to August 26, giving them the longest regular season winning streak in league history. PGL finished the regular season tied for the best regular season record at 26–2, once again tying the record for most regular season wins. The team entered as the North Division's second seed, only behind the San Juan Knights who gave the Giant Lanterns their only other loss on August 30.
They continued their winning prowess in the playoffs, sweeping the expansion Abra Weavers and their region rival Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards before once again taking on San Juan in the division finals. After sweeping San Juan in two games, they faced off against the Quezon Huskers in the 2024 MPBL finals. Their dominant form throughout the season carried on, as they swept the Huskers in three games to become the league's first back-to-back champions, doing so at home.
The team played most of their home games this season at Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center, with one home game played at their previous home, AUF Sports and Cultural Center in Angeles City.

## Preseason

Pampanga was one of eight teams that took part in the 2024 MPBL Preseason Invitational. In their first appearance in the preseason tournament, Pampanga won every game on their way to winning the Invitational title, where they beat the South Cotabato Warriors in the final game,

### Schedule

2024 Pampanga Giant Lanterns Preseason Invitational schedule Total: 5–0 :
| Stage | Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Record | Recap |
| Group stage | 1 | February 22 | Quezon City | W 73–68 | Lagao Gymnasium | 1–0 | Recap |
| Group stage | 2 | February 23 | Valenzuela | W 103–80 | Lagao Gymnasium | 2–0 | Recap |
| Group stage | 3 | February 24 | GenSan Bulalakaw | W 109–75 | Lagao Gymnasium | 3–0 | Recap |
| Playoffs | SF | February 25 | Batangas City | W 78–59 | Lagao Gymnasium | 4–0 | Recap |
| Playoffs | F | February 27 | South Cotabato | W 93–75 | Lagao Gymnasium | 5–0 | Recap |
| Source: Schedule ||||||||

## Regular season
### Standings

| 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 SV Batang Sampaloc | 28 | 20 | 8 | 6 |
| 5 | Caloocan Batang Kankaloo | 28 | 19 | 9 | 7 |
* 1 2 San Juan wins tiebreaker over Pampanga based on head-to-head record.

### Schedule

2024 Pampanga Giant Lanterns regular season schedule Total: 26–2 (Home: 12–0; Road: 11–2; Neutral: 3–0) :
| Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Record | Recap |
| 1 | April 9 | Rizal | L 71–78 | Villar Coliseum $^{(N)}$ | 0–1 | Recap |
| 2 | April 15 | Marikina | W 85–86 | Ynares Center $^{(N)}$ | 1–1 | Recap |
| 3 | April 22 | Mindoro | W 96–72 | Alonte Sports Arena $^{(N)}$ | 2–1 | Recap |
| 4 | April 26 | Bicolandia | W 128–93 | Alonte Sports Arena $^{(N)}$ | 3–1 | Recap |
| 5 | May 2 | Quezon City | W 63–44 | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center $^{(H)}$ | 4–1 | Recap |
| 6 | May 7 | Muntinlupa | W 83–62 | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center $^{(H)}$ | 5–1 | Recap |
| 7 | May 13 | Bataan | W 86–75 | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center $^{(H)}$ | 6–1 | Recap |
| 8 | May 20 | Pasay | W 70–65 | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center $^{(H)}$ | 7–1 | Recap |
| 9 | May 27 | Parañaque | W 77–59 | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center $^{(H)}$ | 8–1 | Recap |
| 10 | June 1 | Sarangani | W 109–68 | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center $^{(H)}$ | 9–1 | Recap |
| 11 | June 6 | Negros | W 104–81 | Alonte Sports Arena $^{(N)}$ | 10–1 | Recap |
| 12 | June 12 | Davao Occidental | W 81–47 | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center $^{(H)}$ | 11–1 | Recap |
| 13 | June 18 | Valenzuela | W 85–56 | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center $^{(H)}$ | 12–1 | Recap |
| 14 | June 22 | Bulacan | W 124–81 | Calasiao Sports Complex $^{(N)}$ | 13–1 | Recap |
| 15 | June 29 | Nueva Ecija | W 91–85 | Nueva Ecija Coliseum $^{(A)}$ | 14–1 | Recap |
| 16 | July 4 | Pangasinan | W 74–50 | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center $^{(H)}$ | 15–1 | Recap |
| 17 | July 9 | Caloocan | W 76–60 | Caloocan Sports Complex $^{(A)}$ | 16–1 | Recap |
| 18 | July 16 | Biñan | W 91–74 | Alonte Sports Arena $^{(A)}$ | 17–1 | Recap |
| 19 | July 22 | Batangas City | W 88–62 | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center $^{(H)}$ | 18–1 | Recap |
| 20 | July 29 | Zamboanga | W 82–79 | Filoil EcoOil Centre $^{(N)}$ | 19–1 | Recap |
| 21 | August 6 | Imus | W 136–75 | San Andres Sports Complex $^{(N)}$ | 20–1 | Recap |
| 22 | August 12 | South Cotabato | W 83–75 | Filoil EcoOil Centre $^{(N)}$ | 21–1 | Recap |
| 23 | August 16 | Iloilo | W 88–49 | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center $^{(H)}$ | 22–1 | Recap |
| 24 | August 26 | Manila | W 92–63 | Filoil EcoOil Centre $^{(N)}$ | 23–1 | Recap |
| 25 | August 30 | San Juan | L 82–86 | Cuneta Astrodome $^{(N)}$ | 23–2 | Recap |
| 26 | September 3 | Bacolod | W 143–94 | Olivarez College $^{(N)}$ | 24–2 | Recap |
| 27 | September 10 | Abra | W 88–79 | FPJ Arena $^{(N)}$ | 25–2 | Recap |
| 28 | September 14 | Quezon | W 75–69 | AUF Sports and Cultural Center $^{(H)}$ | 26–2 | Recap |
| Source: Schedule |||||||

## Playoffs
### Schedule

2024 Pampanga Giant Lanterns playoff schedule Total: 9–0 (Home: 4–0; Road: 1–0; Neutral: 4–0) :
| Round | Game | Date | Opponent | Score | Location | Series | Recap |
| Division quarterfinals | 1 | October 8 | Abra | W 79–64 | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center $^{(H)}$ | 1–0 | Recap |
| Division quarterfinals | 2 | October 16 | Abra | W 66–65 | Nueva Ecija Coliseum $^{(N)}$ | 2–0 | Recap |
| Division semifinals | 1 | October 26 | Nueva Ecija | W 76–73 | Filoil EcoOil Centre $^{(N)}$ | 1–0 | Recap |
| Division semifinals | 2 | October 30 | Nueva Ecija | W 83–80 | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center $^{(H)}$ | 2–0 | Recap |
| Division finals | 1 | November 8 | San Juan | W 91–84 | Filoil EcoOil Centre $^{(A)}$ | 1–0 | Recap |
| Division finals | 2 | November 11 | San Juan | W 81–73 | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center $^{(H)}$ | 2–0 | Recap |
| National finals | 1 | December 1 | Quezon | W 88–71 | Rashid bin Hamdan Indoor Hall $^{(N)}$ | 1–0 | Recap |
| National finals | 2 | December 3 | Quezon | W 79–60 | Rashid bin Hamdan Indoor Hall $^{(N)}$ | 2–0 | Recap |
| National finals | 3 | December 7 | Quezon | W 65–61 | Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center $^{(H)}$ | 3–0 | Recap |
| Source: Schedule ||||||||