San Miguel Beer and Magnolia, powerhouses which should always be battling it out for top spots in any PBA conference, gun for wins Wednesday just to be able to earn equal chances in the Commissioner’s Cup playoffs.
The red-hot Beermen will put a three-game winning streak on the line against struggling Meralco in the 4:30 p.m. contest at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, with a win giving San Miguel No. 6 ranking and a best-of-three quarterfinal match-up with No. 3 Blackwater.
Magnolia, on the other hand, will be clashing with TNT in the 7 p.m. contest, with the Hotshots parading a new import in Rakeem Christmas against a KaTropa side shooting to bag No. 1 ranking and the lightest assignment in the first round of the playoffs.
“That’s what’s important to us right now, to be able to secure a level playing field,” Magnolia coach Chito Victolero told the Inquirer as a win over the KaTropa would give his wards No. 5 seeding and a match-up with crowd-darling sister team Barangay Ginebra, the fourth-ranked squad.
As things stand, a San Miguel win and a Magnolia loss could even shove the Hotshots to No. 7, which would mean needing to beat No. 2 NorthPort two straight times to make the Final Four.
And obviously, that’s what Victolero is trying to avoid as they break in the NBA veteran Christmas.
“The morale of the team is high,” Victolero said, even if the Hotshots are coming off three straight losses with the fired Jamie Farr. “The players know what’s at stake for us, so that should be motivation enough.”
San Miguel is highly favored against the Bolts, who are looking for an upset to get to play another day and vie in a KO match for No. 8.