5-way PBA Govs’ Cup race for 3 premium slots

Barangay Ginebra showed why it is the defending Governors’ Cup champion even as San Miguel Beer remained on track in its quest for a second Grand Slam in the Philippine Basketball Association.

The Gin Kings bounced back from a thorough beating from the Beermen early last week with an 89-82 decision of the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters Saturday to secure at least a tie for a top four slot going into the final week of elimination of the season-ending eliminations.

With their eighth win in 10 games, the Kings, who again moved ahead of the (7-2) Meralco Bolts, the 2016 runners-up, can now afford to drop their last game against the TNT KaTropa this Saturday and still contend for a slot among the top four finishers that will earn a twice-to-beat bonus in the quarterfinals.

After their 107-103 decision of the Kings last Sunday where they led by as much as 26 points, the Beermen struggled past the winless but suddenly tigerish Kia Picanto, 118-112, in last Saturday’s first game before forging a tie with the Katropa at 6-3.

While Terrence Watson proved an able third import replacement for SMB with 28 points and 17 rebounds against the Kings, coach Leo Austria turned to his crack all-Filipino crew, led by the 6-foot-10 June Mar Fajardo in the second half, to pin a 10th straight loss on tailender Kia.

Fajardo unloaded 22 points in the final quarter to finish with 41 points on top of 17 rebounds. Import Geron Johnson led Kia with 42.

The Beermen next take on the 2-8 Phoenix Fuel Masters this Wednesday hoping to match the seven wins of Meralco and NLEX and boost their top four bid. But getting No. 8 won’t be easy with no less than the Bolts facing the Beermen in their final game this Sunday.

NLEX (7-3) is also up against a tough final foe this Sunday in Star (5-3), which can still finish with eight wins like TNT and SMB with a sweep of its last three games.

The Hotshots were battling the Katropa at presstime then face the Picanto on Friday before meeting the Road Warriors.

Blackwater (4-5) was shooting for the last quarterfinal berth behind Rain or Shine (5-4) against GlobalPort (3-6) at presstime. If they win, the Batang Pier still have to get past the Bolts to force a playoff with the Elite.

All ties among the eight top teams after the elimination round will be settled by the PBA quotient system except the deadlock for No. 8 which will be decided by a playoff.

The quarterfinal pairings pit No. 1 against No. 8, No. 2 against No. 7, No. 3 against No. 6 and No. 4 against No. 5.

It will be the survivors of the 1-8 and 3-6 matches and the 2-7 and 4-5 duels that will collide in the best-of-five semifinals. The finals is a best-of-seven series.