BARANGAY Ginebra and Meralco renew their rivalry in the PBA Governors’ Cup when they meet today in Game 1 of their best-of-seven title showdown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Game time is 6 p.m. with the Gin Kings favored to beat the Bolts in what could be another tight and interesting battle between two teams which squared off for the championship in three of the last four years of this import-flavored, coronavirus-delayed conference.

Both Ginebra and Meralco reached the finals following exciting semifinal duels, with the sixth-seeded Gin Kings eliminating the third-seeded NLEX Road Warriors and the fourth-seeded Bolts ousting No. 1 seed Magnolia Pambansang Manok Hotshots.

A major focus of attention is the battle between imports Justin Brownlee of Ginebra and Tony Bishop of Meralco.

The 33-year-old Brownlee is easily the more explosive import this conference.

The former PBA Best Import awardee was his usual deadly self as he finished with 47 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, three steals and three blocks in Ginebra’s series-clinching 112-93 win over NLEX last March 30.

“Life is easier when you have Justin Brownlee around,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone in an interview posted at the official PBA website.

“What a phenomenal performance that was by Justin. I’m amazed by it,: added Cone, referring to Ginebra resident import, who leads the statistical race among the imports.

Interestingly, Brownlee missed the Governors’ Cup Best Import award in their title runs in 2016, 2017 and 2019.

This time, Brownlee leads the pack with 53.7 SPs per game.

Brownlee is followed by Michael Harris of Magnolia with 49.2, Bishop with 47.5 and Cameron Clark of NLEX with 41.8.

“It’s on to Ginebra, again,” Meralco coach Norman Black after Meralco’s 94-81 victory over Magnolia.

“I’ve never beaten Tim Cone before, maybe this will be the right time to get it done. We’ve been meeting a lot lately and he’s been on the winning end everytime,”added Black.

Game today:

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
6 p.m — Barangay Ginebra vs, Meralco