The 2021 PBA Governors' Cup, also known as the 2021 Honda PBA Governors' Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the second and last conference of the 2021 PBA season of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). The 20th edition of the Governors' Cup began on December 8, 2021, after the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) approved the league's request, and ended on April 22, 2022. The tournament allows teams to hire foreign players or imports with a height limit of 6 feet 6 inches (1.98 m).[1]
| 2021 PBA Governors' Cup | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Duration | December 8–26, 2021 (before suspension) February 11 – April 22, 2022 (resumption) |
| TV partner(s) | Local: One Sports TV5 PBA Rush (HD) International: AksyonTV International |
| Finals | |
| Champions | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel |
| Runners-up | Meralco Bolts |
| Awards | |
| Best Player | Scottie Thompson (Barangay Ginebra San Miguel) |
| Best Import | Justin Brownlee (Barangay Ginebra San Miguel) |
| Finals MVP | Scottie Thompson (Barangay Ginebra San Miguel) |
| PBA Governors' Cup chronology | |
| PBA conference chronology | |
This was the first import-laced tournament held by the league since the 2019 PBA Governors' Cup.
For the first two weeks of the tournament, the league returned to the Ynares Sports Arena with no audience in the venue. Quezon City then gave the permission for sports events to be held there with spectators; the PBA is expected to play at the Araneta Coliseum for the rest of the tournament starting December 15.[2]
On January 3, 2022, the league postponed its scheduled games from January 5 to 9 after Metro Manila was put on Alert Level 3 due to the rising COVID-19 cases.[3] The tournament was subsequently postponed indefinitely on January 6.[4] The tournament resumed on February 11 after the alert level in Metro Manila was downgraded to Alert Level 2.[5] The games were temporarily moved to the Ynares Center from February 23 to 27 as the Araneta Coliseum was used for the February window of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup qualification.
The following format will be observed for the duration of the conference:[6]
| Pos | Team
|
W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magnolia Hotshots | 9 | 2 | .818 | — | Twice-to-beat in quarterfinals |
| 2 | NLEX Road Warriors | 8 | 3 | .727 | 1 | |
| 3 | TNT Tropang Giga | 7 | 4 | .636[a] | 2 | |
| 4 | Meralco Bolts | 7 | 4 | .636[a] | 2 | |
| 5 | San Miguel Beermen | 7 | 4 | .636[a] | 2 | Twice-to-win in quarterfinals |
| 6 | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel | 6 | 5 | .545[b] | 3 | |
| 7 | Alaska Aces | 6 | 5 | .545[b] | 3 | |
| 8 | Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters | 5 | 6 | .455[c] | 4 | |
| 9 | NorthPort Batang Pier | 5 | 6 | .455[c] | 4 | |
| 10 | Rain or Shine Elasto Painters | 3 | 8 | .273 | 6 | |
| 11 | Terrafirma Dyip | 2 | 9 | .182 | 7 | |
| 12 | Blackwater Bossing | 1 | 10 | .091 | 8 |
| Team ╲ Game | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | NP | SMB | BGSM | TNT | BWB | ROS | TER | NLEX | MER | PHX | MAG |
| Barangay Ginebra | ALA | NP | PHX | MAG | MER | TNT | SMB | BWB | TER | NLEX | ROS |
| Blackwater | ROS | PHX | MER | SMB | ALA | TER | NLEX | BGSM | NP | TNT | MAG |
| Magnolia | TER | ROS | BGSM | TNT | NLEX | PHX | NP | SMB | MER | ALA | BWB |
| Meralco | BWB | TNT | NLEX | BGSM | NP | ROS | TER | ALA | MAG | SMB | PHX |
| NLEX | SMB | NP | TNT | TER | PHX | MER | MAG | BWB | ALA | ROS | BGSM |
| NorthPort | ALA | NLEX | SMB | BGSM | ROS | MER | MAG | PHX | BWB | TER | TNT |
| Phoenix Super LPG | TER | BWB | ROS | BGSM | NLEX | TNT | MAG | SMB | NP | ALA | MER |
| Rain or Shine | BWB | TER | PHX | MAG | TNT | NP | ALA | MER | NLEX | SMB | BGSM |
| San Miguel | NLEX | ALA | NP | BWB | TER | TNT | BGSM | PHX | MAG | ROS | MER |
| Terrafirma | PHX | ROS | MAG | NLEX | SMB | BWB | ALA | MER | BGSM | NP | TNT |
| TNT | NLEX | ALA | MER | ROS | MAG | PHX | SMB | BGSM | BWB | TER | NP |
| Teams | ALA | BGSM | BWB | MAG | MER | NLEX | NP | PHX | ROS | SMB | TER | TNT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska | — | 77–80 | 98–75 | 91–118 | 94–93 | 89–106 | 87–85 | 99–104 | 80–74 | 99–94 | 102–97 | 77–81 |
| Barangay Ginebra | — | 109–100 | 94–117 | 95–101 | 103–115 | 108–82 | 125–121* | 104–93 | 102–110 | 112–107 | 92–119 | |
| Blackwater | — | 101–100 | 77–98 | 97–117 | 103–116 | 99–110 | 79–92 | 88–107 | 103–109 | 93–106 | ||
| Magnolia | — | 88–85 | 112–109 | 101–103 | 103–83 | 109–98 | 104–87 | 114–87 | 96–93 | |||
| Meralco | — | 110–100 | 98–109 | 109–90 | 93–88 | 110–115 | 107–95 | 83–80 | ||||
| NLEX | — | 120–115* | 93–102 | 109–100* | 114–102 | 116–86 | 102–100 | |||||
| NorthPort | — | 101–93 | 90–104 | 88–91 | 124–117 | 101–106* | ||||||
| Phoenix Super LPG | — | 88–90 | 99–104 | 103–100 | 93–92 | |||||||
| Rain or Shine | — | 100–104 | 106–112* | 92–95 | ||||||||
| San Miguel | — | 100–88 | 81–96 | |||||||||
| Terrafirma | — | 107–127 | ||||||||||
| TNT | — |
March 13, 2022 |
| Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters 101, NorthPort Batang Pier98 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 18–31, 28–24, 30–24, 25–19 | ||
| Pts: Maxwell31 Rebs: Maxwell 13 Asts: Maxwell, Wright5 |
Pts: Artis21 Rebs: Artis 12 Asts: Bolick7 | |
Smart Araneta Coliseum |
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals (best-of-5) | Finals (best-of-7) | ||||||||||||
| (#1 twice-to-beat) | ||||||||||||||
| 1 | Magnolia | 127 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Phoenix Super LPG | 88 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Magnolia | 2 | ||||||||||||
| (#4 twice-to-beat) | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | Meralco | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Meralco | 100 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | San Miguel | 85 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Meralco | 2 | ||||||||||||
| (#2 twice-to-beat) | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | Barangay Ginebra | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | NLEX | 79 | 96 | |||||||||||
| 7 | Alaska | 93 | 80 | |||||||||||
| 2 | NLEX | 1 | ||||||||||||
| (#3 twice-to-beat) | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | Barangay Ginebra | 3 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | TNT | 92 | 95 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Barangay Ginebra | 104 | 115 | |||||||||||
All match-ups have the higher-seeded team having the twice-to-beat advantage, where they have to be beaten twice, and their opponents just once, to advance.
March 18, 2022 |
| Magnolia Hotshots 127, Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters88 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 34–20, 32–26, 36–21, 25–21 | ||
| Pts: Lee25 Rebs: Abueva9 Asts: Barroca7 |
Pts: Maxwell32 Rebs: Maxwell, Perkins9 Asts: Wright8 | |
| Magnolia wins series in one game | ||
Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City |
March 16, 2022 |
| NLEX Road Warriors 79, Alaska Aces 93 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–12, 12–28, 17–24, 24–29 | ||
| Pts: Clark25 Rebs: Clark 16 Asts: Alas4 |
Pts: St. Fort17 Rebs: St. Fort 14 Asts: three players3 | |
Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City |
March 19, 2022 |
| NLEX Road Warriors 96, Alaska Aces80 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 21–20, 25–11, 25–21, 25–28 | ||
| Pts: Clark24 Rebs: Soyud9 Asts: Alas4 |
Pts: St. Fort14 Rebs: St. Fort 7 Asts: three players3 | |
| NLEX wins series in two games | ||
Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City |
March 16, 2022 |
| TNT Tropang Giga 92, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 104 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 14–28, 31–22, 25–21, 22–33 | ||
| Pts: Fuller22 Rebs: Fuller 19 Asts: Castro5 |
Pts: Brownlee38 Rebs: Thompson15 Asts: Thompson 8 | |
Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City |
March 19, 2022 |
| TNT Tropang Giga 95, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 115 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–25, 19–34, 26–37, 21–19 | ||
| Pts: M. Williams17 Rebs: Pogoy, Rosario5 Asts: M. Williams 6 |
Pts: Brownlee29 Rebs: Brownlee 18 Asts: Thompson9 | |
| Barangay Ginebra wins series in two games | ||
Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City |
March 18, 2022 |
| Meralco Bolts 100, San Miguel Beermen85 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 26–26, 22–14, 31–21, 21–24 | ||
| Pts: Bishop32 Rebs: Bishop 16 Asts: Quinto5 |
Pts: Muhammad24 Rebs: Muhammad 15 Asts: Ross7 | |
| Meralco wins series in one game | ||
Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City |
All match-ups are best-of-five playoffs.
March 23, 2022 |
| Magnolia Hotshots 94, Meralco Bolts80 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 12–22, 23–21, 29–13, 30–24 | ||
| Pts: Harris26 Rebs: Harris 16 Asts: Jalalon6 |
Pts: Banchero16 Rebs: Bishop12 Asts: Quinto4 | |
SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay |
March 25, 2022 |
| Magnolia Hotshots 75, Meralco Bolts 81 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 15–20, 22–22, 24–24, 14–15 | ||
| Pts: Harris25 Rebs: Harris 17 Asts: Jalalon6 |
Pts: Bishop22 Rebs: Bishop 14 Asts: Black4 | |
SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay |
March 27, 2022 |
| Magnolia Hotshots 95, Meralco Bolts 101 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 19–24, 31–22, 22–30, 23–25 | ||
| Pts: Harris24 Rebs: Harris 17 Asts: Barroca6 |
Pts: Bishop27 Rebs: Bishop 10 Asts: Banchero, Newsome5 | |
SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay |
March 30, 2022 |
| Magnolia Hotshots 94, Meralco Bolts73 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 20–19, 22–11, 20–22, 32–21 | ||
| Pts: Harris34 Rebs: Harris 18 Asts: Jalalon7 |
Pts: Bishop22 Rebs: Bishop 16 Asts: Newsome5 | |
Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City |
April 1, 2022 |
| Magnolia Hotshots 81, Meralco Bolts 94 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–23, 17–18, 19–21, 16–32 | ||
| Pts: Abueva21 Rebs: Harris11 Asts: Jalalon6 |
Pts: Maliksi24 Rebs: Bishop, Newsome8 Asts: Newsome 12 | |
| Meralco wins series, 3–2 | ||
Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City |
March 23, 2022 |
| NLEX Road Warriors 86, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 95 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 29–23, 16–20, 19–27, 22–25 | ||
| Pts: Clark30 Rebs: Clark 13 Asts: Alas5 |
Pts: Brownlee27 Rebs: Brownlee 14 Asts: Brownlee, Tenorio6 | |
SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay |
March 25, 2022 |
| NLEX Road Warriors 94, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 104 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 27–24, 22–31, 17–27, 28–22 | ||
| Pts: Nieto19 Rebs: Trollano6 Asts: Alas5 |
Pts: Brownlee32 Rebs: Thompson12 Asts: Tenorio7 | |
SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay |
March 27, 2022 |
| NLEX Road Warriors 86, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel85 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 16–19, 20–25, 23–18, 27–23 | ||
| Pts: Clark21 Rebs: Clark 17 Asts: Alas, Clark 4 |
Pts: Brownlee27 Rebs: Standhardinger16 Asts: Tenorio9 | |
SM Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay |
March 30, 2022 |
| NLEX Road Warriors 93, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 112 | ||
| Scoring by quarter: 22–22, 28–31, 21–31, 22–28 | ||
| Pts: Clark34 Rebs: Clark 12 Asts: Alas6 |
Pts: Brownlee47 Rebs: Standhardinger11 Asts: Standhardinger 7 | |
| Barangay Ginebra wins series, 3–1 | ||
Smart Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City |
The Finals is a best-of-seven playoff.
April 6, 2022 |
| Meralco Bolts 104, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel91 |
April 8, 2022 |
| Meralco Bolts 93, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 99 |
April 10, 2022 |
| Meralco Bolts 83, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel74 |
April 13, 2022 |
| Meralco Bolts 84, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 95 |
April 17, 2022 |
| Meralco Bolts 110, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 115 |
April 22, 2022 |
| Meralco Bolts 92, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel 103 | ||
| Barangay Ginebra wins series, 4–2 |
The following is the list of imports, which had played for their respective teams at least once, with the returning imports in italics. Highlighted are the imports who stayed with their respective teams for the whole conference.
| Team | Name | Debuted | Last game | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alaska Aces |  Olu Ashaolu |
December 8 (vs. NorthPort) | March 6 (vs. Magnolia) | 6–5 |
 Mark St. Fort |
March 16 (vs. NLEX) | March 19 (vs. NLEX) | 1–1 | |
| Barangay Ginebra San Miguel |  Justin Brownlee |
December 12 (vs. Alaska) | April 22 (vs. Meralco) | 15–8 |
| Blackwater Bossing | Jaylen Bond |
December 9 (vs. Rain or Shine) | December 22 (vs. Alaska) | 0–5 |
| Shawn Glover |
February 12 (vs. Terrafirma) | March 9 (vs. Magnolia) | 1–5 | |
| Magnolia Hotshots | Mike Harris |
December 15 (vs. Terrafirma) | April 1 (vs. Meralco) | 12–5 |
| Meralco Bolts |  Tony Bishop |
December 16 (vs. Blackwater) | April 22 (vs. Barangay Ginebra) | 13–10 |
| NLEX Road Warriors | K. J. McDaniels |
December 8 (vs. San Miguel) | March 4 (vs. Barangay Ginebra) | 8–3 |
| Cameron Clark |
March 16 (vs. Alaska) | March 30 (vs. Barangay Ginebra) | 2–4 | |
| NorthPort Batang Pier | Cameron Forte |
December 8 (vs. Alaska) | December 10 (vs. NLEX) | 0–2 |
| No import | December 12 (vs. San Miguel), December 15 (vs. Barangay Ginebra) | 0–2 | ||
| Jamel Artis |
February 12 (vs. Rain or Shine) | March 13 (vs. Phoenix) | 5–3 | |
| Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters | Paul Harris |
December 9 (vs. Terrafirma) | December 25 (vs. NLEX) | 3–2 |
| Dominique Sutton |
February 13 (vs. TNT) | February 26 (vs. NorthPort) | 1–3 | |
| Du'Vaughn Maxwell |
March 3 (vs. Alaska) | March 18 (vs. Magnolia) | 2–2 | |
| Rain or Shine Elasto Painters | Henry Walker |
December 9 (vs. Blackwater) | March 6 (vs. Barangay Ginebra) | 3–8 |
| San Miguel Beermen | Brandon Brown |
December 8 (vs. NLEX) | December 26 (vs. Terrafirma) | 3–2 |
| Orlando Johnson |
February 16 (vs. TNT) | February 23 (vs. Phoenix) | 2–1 | |
| Shabazz Muhammad |
February 27 (vs. Magnolia) | March 18 (vs. Meralco) | 2–2 | |
| Terrafirma Dyip | Antonio Hester |
December 9 (vs. Phoenix) | March 9 (vs. TNT) | 2–9 |
| TNT Tropang Giga | McKenzie Moore |
December 15 (vs. NLEX) | December 22 (vs. Meralco) | 1–2 |
| Aaron Fuller |
December 26 (vs. Rain or Shine) | March 16 (vs. Barangay Ginebra) | 6–3 | |
| Leon Gilmore III |
March 19 (vs. Barangay Ginebra) | 0–1 | ||
| Sources:[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] | ||||
| Week | Player | Ref. |
|---|---|---|
| December 8–12 | Kevin Alas (NLEX Road Warriors) | [20] |
| December 15–19 | Arvin Tolentino (Barangay Ginebra San Miguel) | [21] |
| December 22–26 | Matthew Wright (Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters) | [22] |
| February 11–13, 2022 | [23] | |
| February 16–20, 2022 | Jeron Teng (Alaska Aces) | [24] |
| February 23–27, 2022 | Jamie Malonzo (NorthPort Batang Pier) | [25] |
| March 2–6, 2022 | Robert Bolick (NorthPort Batang Pier) | [26] |
| March 9–13, 2022 | Mikey Williams (TNT Tropang Giga) | [27] |
| March 16–19, 2022 | Scottie Thompson (Barangay Ginebra San Miguel) | [28] |
| March 23–27, 2022 | Christian Standhardinger (Barangay Ginebra San Miguel) | [29] |
| March 30–April 1, 2022 | Chris Newsome (Meralco Bolts) | [30] |
| Category | Player | Team | Statistic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points per game | Robert Bolick | NorthPort Batang Pier | 22.1 |
| Rebounds per game | June Mar Fajardo | San Miguel Beermen | 11.2 |
| Assists per game | Robert Bolick | NorthPort Batang Pier | 8.8 |
| Steals per game | Robert Bolick | NorthPort Batang Pier | 2.2 |
| Blocks per game | Arwind Santos | NorthPort Batang Pier | 1.8 |
| Turnovers per game | Robert Bolick | NorthPort Batang Pier | 3.4 |
| Fouls per game | Beau Belga | Rain or Shine Elasto Painters | 4.1 |
| Minutes per game | Robert Bolick | NorthPort Batang Pier | 43.7 |
| FG% | Jackson Corpuz | Magnolia Hotshots | 62.5% |
| FT% | RK Ilagan | Alaska Aces | 100.0% |
| 3FG% | Adrian Wong | Magnolia Hotshots | 56.5% |
| Double-doubles | Scottie Thompson | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel | 11 |
| Triple-doubles | Scottie Thompson | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel | 2 |
| Category | Player | Team | Statistic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points per game | Shabazz Muhammad | San Miguel Beermen | 39.0 |
| Rebounds per game | Shabazz Muhammad | San Miguel Beermen | 19.0 |
| Assists per game | Justin Brownlee | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel | 5.9 |
| Steals per game | K. J. McDaniels | NLEX Road Warriors | 1.5 |
| Antonio Hester | Terrafirma Dyip | ||
| Blocks per game | K. J. McDaniels | NLEX Road Warriors | 2.8 |
| Turnovers per game | K. J. McDaniels | NLEX Road Warriors | 3.8 |
| Fouls per game | Henry Walker | Rain or Shine Elasto Painters | 3.5 |
| Minutes per game | Jamel Artis | NorthPort Batang Pier | 47.3 |
| FG% | Olu Ashaolu | Alaska Aces | 55.8% |
| FT% | Justin Brownlee | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel | 88.5% |
| 3FG% | Tony Bishop | Meralco Bolts | 45.9% |
| Double-doubles | Tony Bishop | Meralco Bolts | 14 |
| Triple-doubles | three players | 1 | |
| Category | Player | Team | Statistic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | Robert Bolick | NorthPort Batang Pier | 32 |
| Allein Maliksi | Meralco Bolts | ||
| Rebounds | Christian Standhardinger | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel | 17 |
| Scottie Thompson | |||
| Assists | Robert Bolick | NorthPort Batang Pier | 17 |
| Steals | Matthew Wright | Phoenix Super LPG Fuel Masters | 6 |
| Blocks | three players | 4 | |
| Three point field goals | Ryan Reyes | TNT Tropang Giga | 8 |
| JVee Casio | Blackwater Bossing | ||
| Category | Player | Team | Statistic |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | Shabazz Muhammad | San Miguel Beermen | 57 |
| Rebounds | Aaron Fuller | TNT Tropang Giga | 26 |
| Assists | Antonio Hester | Terrafirma Dyip | 11 |
| Justin Brownlee | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel | ||
| Steals | Cameron Clark | NLEX Road Warriors | 5 |
| Justin Brownlee | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel | ||
| Blocks | three players | 6 | |
| Three point field goals | four players | 6 | |
| Category | Team | Statistic |
|---|---|---|
| Points per game | NLEX Road Warriors | 109.2 |
| Rebounds per game | Alaska Aces | 48.9 |
| Assists per game | Barangay Ginebra San Miguel | 25.7 |
| Steals per game | Magnolia Hotshots | 8.9 |
| Blocks per game | NLEX Road Warriors | 5.0 |
| Turnovers per game | Alaska Aces | 16.8 |
| Fouls per game | Blackwater Bossing | 24.9 |
| FG% | Magnolia Hotshots | 48.1% |
| FT% | Magnolia Hotshots | 78.1% |
| 3FG% | Magnolia Hotshots | 35.9% |