The PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup elimination is set to reach its boiling point in the final two games on Friday, Jan. 31, at the PhilSports Arena as its results will make huge implications on how the overall playoff picture will look in the quarterfinals.
SCENARIO: Playoff fates of TNT, ROS, Magnolia, NLEX depend on last two games
At a glance
The PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup elimination is set to reach its boiling point in the final two games on Friday, Jan. 31, at the PhilSports Arena as its results will make huge implications on how the overall playoff picture will look in the quarterfinals.
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As it stands, only NorthPort, which claimed the top seed with a 9-3 record, Ginebra and Meralco, which sits at fourth and fifth spots, respectively, are firm in their quarterfinals positioning.
The rest of the teams are still curious onlookers to the crucial twin bill that features a clash between Meralco and Magnolia in the opening game at 5 p.m. and the battle between Rain or Shine and TNT in the main event at 7:30 p.m.
Of the four, the Hotshots, who are at the ninth spot with a 5-6 record, need the victory the most as they try to battle for survival and catch up with No. 8 NLEX Road Warriors.
A win against Meralco would allow Magnolia to get into a 6-6 record and a chance to force a knockout match against either NLEX or Rain or Shine for the last quarterfinals spot. A loss, however, would mean outright elimination with ROS and NLEX getting the playoff passage.
Also if Magnolia wins, that would also put more pressure for Rain or Shine to win its game against TNT as a loss would put the Elasto Painters on a longer road toward the next round.
Currently at the seventh spot with a 5-6 record, a defeat for Rain or Shine and a win by Magnolia would forge a three-way tie between the Hotshots, the Elasto Painters and the Road Warriors on the seventh to ninth spots.
In such a scenario, NLEX will be taking the seventh spot while ROS and Magnolia will figure in a do-or-die match for the No. 8 spot – something that head coach Yeng Guiao surely wants to avoid.
For one, a victory for ROS would even allow it to leapfrog Eastern at the sixth spot and avoid a twice-to-win disadvantage in the quarterfinals.
Easier said than done, however, especially against TNT which is still needing a victory to cement its spot at No. 2 and secure the twice-to-beat advantage.
The Tropang Giga can still fall to as low as the third seed with a loss to ROS and a victory of Meralco over Magnolia.
In that case, there will be a four-team deadlock from the second to fifth spots with Converge, instead, taking the second seed and the quarters incentive by virtue of its superior quotient, thanks to a 16-point win over the Bolts and a seven-point win over the Kings.