Hong Kong Eastern tests Phoenix

MANILA, Philippines — Will foreign guest team Hong Kong Eastern take the PBA Commissioner’s Cup by storm like the Bay Area Dragons two years ago?

The HK A1 club certainly hopes so with a crew led by balik-import Cameron Clark and the Bay Area triumvirate of Hayden Blankley, Kobey Lam and Glen Yang mixing it up with the Philippines’ toughest pro teams.

The 6-foot-6 Clark is on his third stint in Asia’s first play-for-pay league after previously helping NLEX and San Miguel Beer to the semifinals of the Governors’ Cup in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

Blankley, Lam and Yang return to the PBA a couple of seasons after their old Dragons team made a run at the Commissioner’s Cup crown and lost in Game 7 to Barangay Ginebra before an all-time record crowd of 54,589 at the Philippine Arena.

Eastern is also parading HK national team mainstays Leung Ka Hin and Leung Shiu Wah, who are fresh from their FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers Window 2 duties against Gilas Pilipinas last Sunday. Shiu fired three triples and finished with 11 points while Ka shot three markers in Hong Kong’s 54-93 blowout loss.

The HK squad, which is also competing in the East Asia Super League, gets its first taste of PBA action tonight in the Commissioner’s Cup tipoff at the PhilSports Arena.

First up for the team coached by Bosnian Mensure Bajramovic is Phoenix Super LPG at 7:30 p.m.

The Fuel Masters anchor their bid on Donovan Smith, a Euro leagues veteran who is expected to provide the much-needed inside presence to local stalwarts Jason Perkins, RR Garcia, Tyler Tio, Ken Tuffin, Sean Manganti and Ricci Rivero.

Meanwhile, new-look Terrafirma and souped-up Converge fire the opening salvo in the mid-season conference at 5 p.m.

The Dyip launch their quest two days after sending ace sniper Juami Tiongson and hardworking big Andreas Cahilig to SMB to acquire former scoring champ Terrence Romeo and 37-year-old frontliner Vic Manuel.

Romeo and Manuel form a  seasoned unit with Christian Standhardinger, Stanley Pringle and Kevin Ferrer. The Dyip, with Raymond Tiongco calling the shots vice John Cardel, also unleash young guns Mark Nonoy and CJ Catapusan for the first time.

The FiberXers aim to sustain the gains from their quarterfinal showing last conference with former NBA player Cheick Diallo as import and former Gilas gunner Jordan Heading joining holdovers Alec Stockton, Schonny Winston, Justin Arana, Alex Cabagnot and Bryan Santos in the fold mid-season.