By REYNALD MAGALLON
The race for the Top 4 reaches its boiling point as three teams continue to jockey for position in the final game day of the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup eliminations on Sunday, June 15, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
San Miguel, Ginebra and Rain or Shine enter crucial contests that will have serious implications to how the playoff picture would pan out, with the Beermen taking on the also-ran NorthPort Batang Pier in the first offering at 5 p.m.
The even more crucial showdown between the Kings and the Elasto Painters then follow suit at 7:30 p.m. with the rest of the other quarterfinalists in Magnolia, NLEX, Converge, TNT and Meralco all curious spectators as the outcome will also reveal the playoff pairings.
As it stands, NLEX and Magnolia are a lock in in the Top 4 while SMB and Ginebra are tied for the third to fourth spots with similar 7-3 records followed by Converge with a 7-4 slate, and then Rain or Shine with a 6-4 tally. Meralco will remain as the eighth seed no matter the results of the final playdate.
Between the three teams playing, San Miguel and Ginebra have their fates on their hands as they only need to win their final games to move up to the eight-win mark which will assure them a Top 4 spot and the win-once bonus.
Otherwise, things will get complicated and there will be conditions that need to happen for the two to still get into the Top 4.
For SMB, it can afford to lose to NorthPort as long as ROS wins against Ginebra in the second game. For the Kings, they can lose to the Elasto Painters and still claim the twice-to-beat advantage as long as the losing margin is below 14 points.
Pressure now should fall on the shoulders of Rain or Shine, which is not only requiring a victory in the game against Ginebra, but also needs to achieve a certain winning margin to claim a top 4 spot.
For the Elasto Painters to earn the win-once bonus, they must beat the Kings by 15 or more points to ensure that they are getting a superior quotient when they force a three-way deadlock for the fourth to sixth spots with Ginebra and Converge with identical 7-4 records.
And even in an event where ROS gets caught in a four-team tie from the third to sixth spots – a scenario that will also involve SMB if it loses to NorthPort in the first game – the Elasto Painters will still need to beat the Kings by 14 or more points to get the second best possible quotient among the four.
In all of that, Converge only needs to wait and pray for the outcome of the remaining games to work in its favor. The FiberXers can still move up to the fourth spot if NorthPort and Ginebra win.
Such a scenario would put Converge and San Miguel in tie at the fourth to fifth spots with same 7-4 records although it will be the FiberXers claiming the higher seeding by virtue of the winner over the other rule, thanks to their 100-97 win over the Beermen just last Wednesday.
