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San Miguel Beer accomplished the first thing it set out to do in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, and coach Leo Austria knows the question on everyone’s minds.
“It won’t be easy,” Austria said on Friday night, moments after his Beermen claimed the first twice-to-beat privilege in the first round of the playoffs after a 112-101 decision of GlobalPort at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
“We now have the opportunity, but it will entirely be up to us,” he said when asked if he can see a clearer road to the Finals—and a shot at the second jewel of the coveted Triple Crown. “But we will be playing (solid) contenders (in the playoffs). It will be hard.”
After getting 34 points from import Charles Rhodes and twin digits from five locals, San Miguel closed out its elimination round stint with a 9-2 card, tying idle sister team Star and Barangay Ginebra at the top and finishing No. 2 in the rankings behind the Gin Kings after the quotient system broke the tie.
Ginebra also finished with a 9-2 record and grabbed the second quarterfinal bonus after a 94-80 whipping of Mahindra later in the night, and since they and the Beermen were the only teams to defeat the Hotshots in the eliminations, they knocked Star out of the twice-to-beat privilege.
“We didn’t play that well. We didn’t have the flow we wanted to play with,” Ginebra’s Tim Cone said after steering the Ginebra franchise to its first No. 1 finish in 20 years—the last time that happened was when Gordon’s Gin was reinforced by Chris King in the 1997 Commissioner’s Cup.
Justin Brownlee scored 22 points and had 10 rebounds and the Gin Kings had little trouble thwarting the Floodbuster, who failed to make it past the eliminations for the second straight conference after a 3-8 record, good for 10th spot.
Ginebra will thus await the winner of the knockout clash between the Batang Pier and Alaska for No. 8 on Sunday at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, while the Beermen will be clashing with seventh-ranked Phoenix Petroleum in the quarterfinals.
The Fuel Masters, GlobalPort and the Aces all finished with 4-7 records, but Phoenix grabbed No. 7 because of having the best quotient.
TNT KaTropa finished No. 4 and will clash with fifth-ranked Meralco in a best-of-three series. Defending champion Rain or Shine, No. 6 with a 5-6 record, will battle the Hotshots.