THE first Manila Clasico for Season 46 of the PBA takes place on Sunday as Magnolia and Barangay Ginebra renew their rivalry at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City.

Magnolia (2-0) has been impressive in its first two outings in the ongoing Philippine Cup.

Last Wednesday, the Hotshots scored an 84-82 victory over the Alaska Aces via a buzzer-beating short stab by Ian Sangalang.

Ginebra (1-1) is fresh from a 96-81 drubbing of Blackwater Bossing last Friday to enter the win column. Ginebra head coach Tim Cone, however, wasn’t satisfied by the performance of the Gin Kings so far in the season and is expecting his team to play better against archrival Magnolia.

According to Cone, Ginebra is still in the process of getting to know its new players, particularly Christian Standhardinger who was acquired in an offseason trade with Greg Slaughter. Ginebra didn’t start preparing for this season until it got Standhardinger on board and had the 6-foot-8 Filipino German get integrated with the team’s scheme of things.

San Miguel Beer (1-1) and NorthPort (1-1), two teams coming off from similar overpowering victories over separate rivals, collide at 2 p.m.

NLEX (1-1) and Terrafirma (0-1) cap Sunday’s triple head at 7 p.m.

The Beermen gave the Road Warriors of NLEX a whipping on Friday, 110-93, in a game where the San Miguel had its arsenal on full display.

Six players scored in double figures for the Beermen led by new acquisition CJ Perez, who knocked in 21 points, including a steady 3-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc. Alex Cabagnot also had a solid game, scoring with 17 markers, and Mo Tautuaa flirted with a double-double performance with 16 points and nine boards.

The Beermen also got a doubledouble performance from June Mar Fajardo, who finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Marcio Lassiter added 14 markers. Von Pessumal came off the bench and produced 10 points for San Miguel. Former MVP Arwind Santos also had a solid game with 9 points and 11 boards.

But the Beermen will be facing a Batang Pier squad, which is also in high spirits.

NorthPort played one of its best games in years when it dealt Phoenix Super LPG a 36-point beat down, 115-79, last Wednesday.

In that game, the Batang Pier hit 17 three-point baskets and were led by Kevin Ferrer, Robert Bolick Jr. and Troy Rike, who all scored 20 points apiece.