Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
With defending champion San Miguel Beer finally clinching the top spot in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations by downing GlobalPort in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu last Saturday, the fight for the No. 2 slot and the second twice-to-beat bonus tightened up some more.
Going into the last six playing schedule, including Sunday’s double header at Philsports Arena, five teams now have a solid shot at finishing second behind the Beermen, whose 9-1 win-loss record is assured of No. 1 even if they drop their final game against TNT KaTropa on Jan. 28.
Notwithstanding their 106-100 decision to the Beermen, the Batang Pier are in third place in a tie with Rain or Shine, TNT and Alaskaóall with 5-4 slatesógoing into their last two outings.
And with the magic number down to seven wins, Star (4-4) still has a shot at No. 2 if it can sweep its three remaining games.
GlobalPort will tackle TNT on Jan. 25 then close its schedule against Rain or Shine on Jan. 29 while Phoenix (6-4) has Alaska as final foe on Jan. 27.
The Elasto Painters will also tangle with the Aces on the last playing date of the eliminations on Feb. 1.
The Hotshots face the Blackwater Elite on Jan. 25 before taking their turn against the Floodbuster on Feb. 1.
Blackwater at 5-5 is out of the running for the coveted second spot with the Elite joining the eight teams out of the starting field of 12 that will advance to the quarterfinals with a win over Star on Jan. 25.
Ginebra, also at 5-5, has lowly NLEX as its last opponents. The Gin Kings lost to the the Phoenix Fuel Masters last night, 79-73, and then take on the Road Warriors on Jan. 29.
While Meralco is out of the cellar this time, the Bolts are out of it at 3-7 since Alaska and Star are expected to at least win one of their last three games.
Also out of contention are Mahindra and NLEX, both at 2-7, with their encounter on Jan. 27 eventually deciding who ends up dead last.
Experts predict an even more interesting final week of eliminations this time as the eight teams behind SMB also try to avoid ending up among the last two qualifiers that will face the top two quarterfinalists needing two wins to advance.
The PBA quotient system will decide ties after the eliminations with a two-way deadlock to be decided via the winner-over-the-other rule except for the tie for No. 8 that will be settled by a playoff.
The other quarterfinal matches will pit No. 3 against No. 6 and No. 4 against No. 5 in separate best-of-three duels.
The winners of the 1 vs 8 and 3 vs 6 pairings will clash in the semifinals with the survivors of the 2 vs 7 and 4 vs 5 duels meeting in the other Final Four encounter.
The semifnals will be a best-of-five with the finalists meeting in a best-of-seven affair.