Aces battle Express, eye playoff for No. 4

ALASKA shoots for a playoff for the last twice-to-beat advantage when the Aces battle Air21, which, like the two other teams that will also play today, will be battling for survival in the PBA Governors’ Cup at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

The Aces will be gunning for a win in their 4:15 p.m. clash with the Express, who could get into a playoff for the No. 8 slot if Talk ‘N Text hurdles Barangay Ginebra in the 6:30 p.m. game.

As things stand, Petron Blaze, San Mig Coffee and Meralco bagged the first three places for the quarterfinals, earning twice-to-beat privileges against the eighth, seventh and sixth-seeded teams, respectively.

An Air21 upset would automatically give the fourth slot to idle Rain or Shine, while an Alaska win would forge a playoff between the Aces and the Elasto Painters tomorrow.

In the event of an Alaska win, both the Aces and the Painters would finish at 5-4 with the tie to be broken via a playoff. Both teams will then advance to face each other in the quarterfinals, but with No. 4 needing to win just once to march on to the Final Four.

If the Tropang Texters manage to snap a five-game losing streak against the Gin Kings, and in the event of an Air21 loss, Talk ‘N Text and Barangay Ginebra slug it out again also tomorrow for the right to clash with Petron Blaze.