The San Miguel Beermen and the Meralco Bolts are set to face in the PBA Philippine Cup playoffs once again.

Much like in Season 48, the two powerhouse squads are set to lock horns in the postseason. This time around, however, it will not be in the finals but in the quarterfinals stage.

At the end of Season 49’s All-Filipino elimination round, San Miguel sits at No.1 with a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarters, while Meralco is at No. 8 with a 6-5 record.

For Beermen star CJ Perez, however, their finals heartbreak — one that gave Meralco its first PBA title —  in the previous year is already a thing of the past.

“I think that it’s a different ball game na,” said the Lyceum of the Philippines University product, who fired a game-high 24 points with five rebounds and a steal in their 126-91 win over the NorthPort Batang Pier on Sunday.

The Beermen’s win locked them the top seed in the Philippine Cup, a far cry from how they ended the Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup wherein they did not advance into the playoffs.

But while San Miguel Beer successfully returned to a familiar spot at the top of the standings, clinching the No.1 seed was not really a priority for the perennial league powerhouse.

“It was not our goal,” Beermen head coach Leo Austria emphasized.

“Our goal was to gain the twice-to-beat advantage, but it’s a motivation for us, because it was disappointing. We cannot afford not getting into the playoffs again,” he added.

And even if they have the upper hand over Meralco as the higher-seeded squad, Perez said that the Bolts are no pushovers; they are the defending champions for a reason.

“We need to focus sa Meralco,” insisted Perez. “Manalo muna kami ng isa, then we’ll see kung anong mangyayari.”

“They have a good system, so kailangan naming tapatan energy nila, mag-focus sa defense, then offense will come na lang,” he added.

San Miguel defeated Meralco, 110-98, in the elims, and they are looking to repeat that result come Friday, June 20. (ABS-CBN News)