MOMENT OF TRUTHS
The fate of the embattled Magnolia Hotshots is not the only question that will be answered on Friday when the elimination round of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup wraps up at PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
Magnolia needs to defeat Meralco in the 5 p.m. opener to force a playoff for the No. 8 seed with either NLEX or Rain or Shine or see itself miss the quarterfinal bus for the first time since the 2016 Governors’ Cup.
On the heels of their blowout win over guest team Hong Kong Eastern, Magnolia is eager to produce another important result in what could be a grind-out encounter with Meralco, which is reeling from Wednesday’s 91-87 loss to Barangay Ginebra at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“It was a big win against a really good team [in Eastern] to give us momentum,” Hotshots import Ricardo Ratliffe told the Inquirer. “We gotta keep that momentum, and hopefully we can do the same thing against Meralco and make the playoffs.”
TNT and Rain or Shine close out the initial phase of the midseason conference at 7:30 p.m. as both teams still have something to play for, particularly the ElastoPainters.
Quotient winner
Rain or Shine holds a 6-5 record after dropping its last two games, NLEX is assured of at least a playoff for that eighth position after posting a 6-6 record behind a three-game winning streak while Magnolia is at 5-6.
If NLEX, Rain or Shine and Magnolia all finish at 6-6, the Road Warriors get the No. 7 spot while the E-Painters and Hotshots dispute No. 8 in a playoff. NLEX has a 1.038 or +8 quotient with Magnolia having 1.010 or +2 and Rain or Shine 0.955 or -10.
NLEX and Magnolia will play that KO match on Sunday at Ynares Center in Antipolo if the Hotshots win and the E-Painters prevail over the Tropang Giga.
A Magnolia loss assures Rain or Shine and NLEX the final two spots, regardless of the outcome of the former’s match against TNT. But winning over the Tropang Giga puts the E-Painters in a better position.
Rain or Shine will be No. 6 with a victory and will relegate guest team Hong Kong Eastern, which went 7-5, to No. 7 and the task of needing to beat the No. 2 squad, either TNT or Converge, twice. Rain or Shine holds the tiebreaker over Eastern after its 99-81 win in December.
“I think our situation isn’t hopeless,” said E-Painters coach Yeng Guiao, whose wards have been in terrible form with losses to Barangay Ginebra and NLEX by an average margin of 20 points.
“We just need a morale booster to get back our regular game, our confidence. We will try to get that [against TNT],” he added.
If not, TNT will secure the No. 2 spot and the twice-to-beat, joining NorthPort, which got the No. 1 seeding after Meralco’s defeat at the hands of Ginebra. The result relegated the Bolts to No. 5 and a best-of-three date with the No. 4 Gin Kings.
NorthPort has a 9-3 record, followed by TNT at 8-3, with Converge and Ginebra carrying identical 8-4 slates while Meralco is at 7-4.
No. 1 up for grabs
Scenarios computed by PBA chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III reveal that Converge could bag the other twice-to-beat bonus with a Meralco win plus a TNT loss due to a superior quotient.
That scenario will put Converge, TNT, Ginebra and Meralco at 8-4 apiece, but the FiberXers have the superior quotient with 1.074 or +21, followed by TNT (1.032 or +9), Ginebra (0.971 or -8) and Meralco (0.927 or -22).
A Meralco loss, however, guarantees TNT the twice-to-beat even with a loss to Rain or Shine since it has the edge of 1.038 or +7 over Converge (1.026 or +5) and Ginebra (0.937 or -12) in the event of a three-way tie at 8-4.
Quotients are used if at least three teams share the same records, based on PBA rules. The results of their elimination round matches, on the other hand, are used to break ties between two teams having identical win-loss slates.
