Last outing for one as Road Warriors, Hotshots battle for final playoff slot

After brilliantly avoiding early elimination by each winning their last three games, someone between Magnolia and NLEX will still have to go.

The Road Warriors emerged as the Hotshots’ opponent in Sunday’s one-game playoff at Ynares Center in Antipolo City to determine the final team that will catch the quarterfinal bus in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

The winner of the 7:30 p.m. match will then advance to face the top seed NorthPort Batang Pier, who will have a twice-to-beat advantage after a surprising run toward the best record in the elimination.

“We have good momentum coming in and I have complete trust in my teammates that we can pull it off,” Road Warriors star Robert Bolick said in Filipino.

Rain or Shine prevented itself from being the one that will play for survival after closing out the eliminations with a 106-96 win over TNT to become the sixth-seeded team. The ElastoPainters would have faced the Hotshots had they lost.

Confirmed pairings are No. 2 TNT taking on No. 7 Hong Kong Eastern with a twice-to-beat bonus, and No. 3 Converge and No. 6 Rain or Shine squaring off in a best-of-three series.

No. 4 Barangay Ginebra and No. 5 Meralco had arranged their own best-of-three date following the Gin Kings’ 91-87 win over the Bolts last Wednesday at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Both NLEX and Magnolia were on the brink of bidding adieu early when they both had 3-6 slates. But the two teams refused to give up and put up incredible turnarounds to their respective campaigns.

Big winning margins

Led by Bolick, import Mike Watkins plus contributions from Javee Mocon, Kevin Alas, Xyrus Torres, Tony Semerad and rookie Brandon Ramirez, NLEX defeated Phoenix, Rain or Shine and Eastern by an average margin of 15 points.

“If you think about it, we’re already out of it at 3-6,” said Bolick. “But out of nowhere, we pull off wins against big teams. It just shows that we can compete against stronger teams and that we can really do it.

“So from here on in, it’s do-or-die for us. Actually, we were already in a do-or-die mode when we were 3-6,” he added.

Magnolia is also banking on its late surge to avoid missing the quarters for the first time since coach Chito Victolero took over in the 2016-17 season.

Under Victolero, the Hotshots have made the quarters in 18 straight conferences, all without having to go through a playoff for No. 8.