Barangay Ginebra and Rain or Shine both gun for an assured spot in the quarterfinals in their marquee duel in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup on Wednesday, Jan. 22, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

The Kings (6-4) and the Elasto Painters (6-3) figure in the crucial tiff at 7:30 p.m. with the winner picking up win No.7 – the magic number of victories needed to formally qualify to the quarterfinals and join already playoff-bound teams Converge, NorthPort, Meralco, and Eastern.

Raising the curtain to the clash is the duel between the top and the bottom teams in TNT and Terrafirma in the opening game at 5 p.m.

Rain or Shine is coming off a 127-107 win over NorthPort to not only get back on track and break a two-game dry spell but also get the much-needed confidence booster heading into Ginebra game

“Malaking tulong ito. To arrest a losing skid is a morale-booster and we need a lot of that especially heading into our game against Ginebra,” said Guiao.

“Let’s try to see how far this takes us ang sabi ko nga naka anim na panalo kami pito, hinahabol namin para siguradong nasa quarters ka and makaiwas ka rin dun sa 7 and 8 spots . Yung Ginebra game yung pang pitong panalo namin kung sakali kung papalarin," added the veteran coach.

A loss for either team could also put it in a dangerous spot especially with San Miguel, Magnolia, Phoenix and Blackwater also trying to make a run for the remaining spots in the playoff.

A victory, however, not only would qualify the winner to the quarters but also would keep itself in the race for the Top 2 spots which merit a twice-to-beat advantage in the next round.

And that’s something surely the Kings want to also achieve even though they were thrown off track by a 91-86 defeat at the hands of the league-pacing TNT.

Expected to lead the charge for Ginebra is resident import Justin Brownlee along with local stars Troy Rosario, Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar and Stephen Holt.

On the other hand, at the forefront of the assault for Rain or Shine will be steady import Deon Thompson along with young guns Adrian Nocum, Andrei Caracut and Santi Santillan.

Meanwhile in the opening game, TNT is also seeking playoff passage but it is pacing a Terrafirma-side desperate to get some measure of pride and avoid another winless campaign on its franchise.

Should they manage to play spoiler though, they’ll be dragging the Tropang Giga out of the top seed down to the seventh spot – something that TNT head coach Chot Reyes and import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson certainly would not want to happen.