Crucial PBA Christmas twinbill
By Musong R. Castillo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 18:30:00 12/24/2008
Filed Under: Basketball, Philippine Basketball Association (PBA)
W L
Alaska 12 6
Talk ‘N Text 10 7
R. or Shine 10 7
Sta. Lucia 10 8
Brgy Ginebra 9 8
San Miguel 9 9
Air21 8 9
Purefoods 8 10
Coca-cola 7 11
Red Bull 5 13
GAMES THURSDAY (Araneta Coliseum)
2:30 p.m.—Talk ‘N Text vs Air21
5 p.m.—Barangay Ginebra vs Rain or Shine
MANILA, Philippines—It’s Christmas and everyone should be happy and celebrating—except for two teams Thursday night.
Talk ‘N Text tries to bag the second outright semifinal seat in the KFC-PBA Philippine Cup, and Rain or Shine hopes to do the same in the final elimination playdate at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.
Talk ‘N Text can join Alaska outright in the Final Four and shut the door on the Elasto Painters with a win over Air21 in the 2:30 p.m. game.
Rain or Shine also needs a combination of a win over Barangay Ginebra in the second match at 5 p.m. and a loss by the Tropang Texters to the Express to advance.
If the Texters and the Painters win, they go into a playoff for the second semis berth.
Ginebra, meanwhile, still has a slim chance at nailing that slot if the Texters lose and then it beats the Painters by at least 14 points.
If Talk ‘N Text prevails and Ginebra loses, the Kings will drop into a playoff for the third and last quarterfinal berth with sister team San Miguel, with the loser going down to the one-miss-you-die wild-card phase.
The scenario would even be gloomier if they lose and Air21 snatches a victory since that would automatically send Ginebra into the wild-card round and in a collision course with another sister squad, Purefoods.
Air21, meanwhile, can still make the quarterfinals outright if it beats the Texters and the Painters prevail over the Kings. Under that scenario, the Express will fall into a playoff with the Beermen for the natural No. 5 spot and the third outright quarterfinal berth.
Thursday’s schedule will see Ranidel De Ocampo facing his former Express teammates since his departure from Air21.
Ginebra, meanwhile, will be looking to win for the fourth time in five Christmas Day games, and this could prove to be the biggest in this tournament for the Kings, who have labored hard because of injuries but are contending just the same.
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