PBA quarterfinal fight far from done

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THE EIGHT-TEAM quarterfinal cast of the ongoing PBA Govenors’ Cup is all but complete but the jockeying for positions in the playoffs  for the four semifinal slots will go down to the last playing day of the single round eliminations on Sept. 18.

As expected, Barangay Ginebra and defending champion San Miguel clinched the twice-to-beat bonus earlier secured by pacesetting TNT KaTropa, which closed on the No. 1 seed by turning back the out-of-it all Star Hotshots, 115-105, the other night.

TNT remained on top going into the final week of eliminations with  nine wins and one loss followed by Ginebra, which improved to 7-2 after a 93-86 victory over Mahindra last Friday. SMB held on to third at 7-3 after an 82-75 decision of reigning Commissioner’s Cup champion Rain or Shine and third import Josh Dollard Saturday.

But the chase for the last incentive reserved for the fourth best team in the quarterfinals muddled up after Meralco forged a tie at 6-5 with Mahindra as the Bolts hacked out an 86-83 victory over the Enforcers earlier.

Mahindra, which kept TNT company on top with four straight wins early in the eliminations, couldn’t stop Meralco import Allen Durham, who scattered 34 points and 17 rebounds.

With this new turn of events, Alaska and NLEX get a chance to join Meralco and Mahindra in a tie when they collide this Friday. And there’s even a possibility of a four-way jam at 6-5 if Phoenix upsets Ginebra earlier on Sept. 14.

As things stand, Alaska, NLEX and Phoenix are tied for the sixth to eighth places in the quarterfinal picture at 5-5 with Rain or Shine, running ninth and supposedly out of the playoffs at 4-6, suddenly getting a shot at the last qualifying slot.

The format calls for a playoff for a two-way tie for the No. 4 and the No. 8 slots after the eliminations with all other deadlocks being resolved by the  quotient  system. In case of a three-way  or four-way tie, only the top two teams with the highest quotient will play off for the coveted spot.

The twice-to-beat bonus will be enjoyed by the top four teams in the quarterfinals with the top team meeting the No. 8 qualifier, the No. 2 squad facing No. 7, the No. 3 clashing with No. 6 and the No. 4 tangling with No. 5.

With back-to-back losses to Alaska and NLEX last week, GlobalPort bowed out of the race along with Star and Blackwater. The Batang Pier have a 3-7 mark going into their no-bearing match with Blackwater (1-8) tomorrow.

The Hotshots are out of it at 2-8 although they could serve as executioners when  the Elasto Painters  bid for a tie for No. 8  tomorrow against the loser of the Alaska-NLEX tiff and possibly the FuelMasters.

Blackwater ends its campaign against SMB this Sunday before TNT and Ginebra take the floor to decide the top quarterfinal ranking.