San Miguel Beer and Rain or Shine, two of the hottest teams in the PBA Philippine Cup at the moment, clash with separate foes today hoping to enhance their playoff positions at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Beermen take the floor first at 4:15 p.m. against Globalport seeking to tie idle Alaska for the lead, while the Painters slug it out with NLEX in the 7 p.m. contest.
Rain or Shine, which is coming off three straight victories like San Miguel Beer, needs a win to stay in solo third spot and keep alive its chances of nailing an automatic Final Four berth by finishing in the top two.
The Aces are back on top at 7-1, and with the quotient system in effect to break ties, would need to sweep their last three games to avoid any complications and book an automatic semifinal seat.
Meanwhile, Globalport badly needs this one to boost its bid to reach the upper half of the leaderboard. Already out in the automatic Final Four race with a 4-4 card, the Batang Pier have to win their last three games to avoid qualifying in the first phase of the quarterfinals needing to beat a higher-ranked foe twice.
Tournament format calls for Nos. 1 and 2 to head straight to the Final Four, with Nos. 3 to 6 going into the playoffs with Nos. 7 to 10 shooting for just one win to advance to the second phase of the quarterfinals.
The Road Warriors also cannot take another loss in their final four games. NLEX, which bought the Air21 franchise and is the third rookie squad here, is at 3-4 and languishing in ninth spot, just ahead of idle Barako Bull.
The Beermen also hope to draw firepower from Arwind Santos and swingmen Chris Lutz and Marcio Lassiter, while Globalport, which will be coming off a painful 84-87 defeat at the hands of the Aces, will again be led by Alex Cabagnot, Terrence Romeo and top rookie pick Stanley Pringle.
The bottom two teams will be eliminated but can field imports of unlimited height in the Commissioner’s Cup.
June Mar Fajardo, the reigning MVP who is turning in numbers that make him a hot favorite for a second such award, will again be the main man for San Miguel.