PBA: KaTropa tab No. 1; mighty Beermen drops to 7th

Terrence Jones carries TNT to top spot in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines–Playing with sustained brilliance, TNT proved too much for Magnolia to handle, with a 98-83 triumph Wednesday giving the KaTropa top seeding in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup playoffs while painting a dire picture for powerhouse San Miguel Beer.

The result literally had no effect on the Hotshots’ playoff standing, as they would land at No. 5 and will play fourth-ranked Barangay Ginebra in a best-of-three series in the quarterfinals.

With the San Miguel loss to the Meralco Bolts earlier in the night, the Beermen finished as the seventh seed after the tiebreak and would need to beat No. 2 NorthPort two straight times to make it to the Final Four.

The Beermen, idle Rain or Shine and Magnolia all finished with 5-6 records, with the Elasto Painters winding up in sixth spot and will play No. 3 Blackwater also in a race-to-two series.

The KaTropa, with their 10th win in 11 games, effectively stood out of the way of the mighty Beermen in the quarters and, instead, will be playing the winner of the Alaska-Meralco KO game on Friday—needing to beat that team just once to advance.

Terrence Jones had 26 points, 13 rebounds, eight assists and five blocks in the rout.

Rakeem Christmas, Magnolia’s new import, had just eight points in his debut and wasn’t of much help.

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