In just his first year in the PBA, Calvin Abueva has become the new face of the Alaska Aces franchise, drawing the most love from Gatas Republik fans, leading the team in statistics, and helping them win the Commissioner’s Cup.

Alaska chief executive officer Wilfred Uytengsu said that the best is still ahead for the brash rookie.

“He has a lot of potential. He has oodles and oodles of talent and he has a bright future in the PBA,” Uytengsu told InterAKTV.

SAN ANTONIO -- The San Antonio Spurs opened the Western Conference finals resembling the past champions who've been there so many times before.

The Memphis Grizzlies looked like the first-timers still trying to adapt to their first conference finals appearance.

Tony Parker had 20 points and nine assists, Kawhi Leonard scored 18 points and the Spurs struck first by beating Memphis 105-83 on Sunday.

For the second time in 11 days, the PBA set a new all-time attendance record for a basketball game at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

No less than 23,436 fans went to the Big Dome on Sunday to witness Game Three of the Commissioner’s Cup finals between the Alaska Aces and Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.

The total attendance broke the previous mark set last May 9 during the semifinals of the tournament, a night that featured a twinbill of Alaska versus San Mig Coffee and Ginebra versus Talk ‘N Text. The May 9 date, which drew 23,108 fans, broke an old record set in the 2008 Fiesta Conference finals between Air 21 and Ginebra.

Alaska center Sonny Thoss was named Most Valuable Player of the Commissioner’s Cup finals after helping the Aces sweep Barangay Ginebra San Miguel.

The Aces capped the series with an emphatic 104-80 victory in Game Three to bring home their 14th PBA championship.

Thoss posted 13 points and 14 rebounds in the title-clinching win.

MIAMI -- The Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers don't start the Eastern Conference finals until Wednesday, but that hasn't stopped the teams from engaging one another early.

Heat star LeBron James took exception Sunday to Pacers coach Frank Vogel referring to Miami as "just the next team" standing between Indiana and a shot at an NBA title.

Vogel made the statement during his postgame news conference Saturday after the Pacers closed out the Knicks in Game 6 of the conference semifinals, setting up a rematch with the Heat. Miami defeated Indiana in the conference semis last season on its way to the NBA title.

MANILA, Philippines - No less than the architect of Alaska's first 13 championships in the PBA led the personalities around the league in congratulating the Aces for sweeping the Cebuana Lhuillier PBA Commissioner's Cup Finals at the expense of crowd favorite Brgy. Ginebra San Miguel Kings last night.

Tim Cone, who left the Aces in an emotional and bittersweet break-up last year to join the San Mig Coffee Mixers, took to Twitter his congratulatory message to his former team. Other league personalities including former Talk n Text head coach and now Gilas Pilipinas mentor Chot Reyes joined him in admiration on how the Wilfred Uytengsu-franchise quickly built a championship team in such a short span of time since the departure of Cone.

The Aces proved that they are the best team all throughout the conference by winning 18 of their 22 games this conference, including six straight in the playoffs or since dropping the series opener in the semifinals. They went to the Finals at the expense of Cone and his Mixers via 3-1 series win in the semifinals.  This came after the franchise lost their first 10 meetings with Cone since he left Alaska.

MANILA, Philippines - Coach Leo Austria said yesterday San Miguel Beer’s 16-game winning streak is no assurance of the Asean Basketball League (ABL) championship as he prepares for the best-of-five semifinals against the Sports Rev Thailand Slammers starting Thursday at the Ynares Sports Center.

San Miguel ended the regular season last Friday, hacking out a 107-104 triple overtime win over the Westports Malaysia Dragons in Kuala Lumpur. The win raised the Beermen’s record to 19-3, guaranteeing the homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs for the top seed. Defending champion Indonesia Warriors finished second at 16-6 and Malaysia third at 12-9 with a final game to play against Saigon. Thailand took the fourth spot at 8-14.

Last year, San Miguel also topped the regular season with a 17-4 mark, beat Malaysia in the semifinals and lost to Indonesia in the best-of-three finals that went the distance. Austria was coach Bobby Parks’ assistant and won’t ever forget the pain of bowing to the Warriors in the title clincher at home. Now, Austria has a chance for redemption and deliver what Parks, who passed away last March, fell short of claiming by a single game.

The Alaska Aces are once again the kings of the PBA. The Aces used a crippling run late in the fourth quarter to break the game wide open and sweep their best-of-five Commissioner's Cup Finals series against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, 104-80, Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Alaska won game one by a score of 87-70, and triumphed in game two by a margin of 104-90, en route to their 14th championship in the PBA.

Jvee Casio scored on two straight floaters and added a rare four-point play to give Alaska a commanding 92-79 lead halfway through the fourth quarter. Sonny Thoss and Calvin Abueva joined the scoring frenzy for the Aces while Ginebra struggled to find any kind of offense.

Despite a challenging season, the Saigon Heat fans have continuously shown their loyalty for their team. They were rewarded tonight as the Heat ended their 2013 ABL campaign with an 89-78 win over the Westports Malaysia Dragons at Tan Binh Stadium, Vietnam.

“The fans are great tonight. You can take a look around and the stadium is very full even though we are having a tough season. We dedicated tonight’s win for them and we would like to thank them for all their support all season long,” said Larry Tieu after the game.

David Palmer scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Justin Howard finished with 27 points and 19 rebounds. Chris Sumalinog added 10 points for the Heat who had to play without one of their starters Jai Reyes due to a foot injury.

LA Tenorio was named Best Player of the 2013 PBA Commissioner's Cup, Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, in a short ceremony prior to game three of the Alaska Aces versus Barangay Ginebra Finals clash.

The starting point guard of the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings was second in the statistical race behind Alaska's Calvin Abueva, but he won most of the votes from the PBA, the media, and the other players.

Tenorio finished with 1125 points built on 475 points from the media vote, 75 points from the players vote, and 150 points from the PBA. The rookie Abueva on the other hand only garnered 295 points from the media votes, 64 points from the player votes, and 75 points from the PBA for a total of 861.