MERALCO goes for the twice-to-beat advantage, while San Miguel eyes the No. 4 seed when they face separate opponents on Wednesday in the penultimate playdate of the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup elimination round at the Don Honorio Ventura State University gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
The Bolts face NLEX at 3 p.m. in the first of two tries to claim the incentive, while the Beermen try to cement hold of the fourth spot in the standings as it takes on Alaska at 6 p.m.
Meralco is seeking to join TNT as the twice-to-beat teams in the quarterfinals. The Bolts welcome the return of Chris Newsome and Cliff Hodge in the important game after missing last week due to the league’s health and safety protocols.
Meralco will be missing Reynel Hugnatan, who went home to Talisay, Negros Occidental to attend to the wake of his mother who passed away last week.
The Bolts are on a two-game winning streak including a 104-97 victory over Blackwater last Saturday.
NLEX also plays an important contest against Meralco. At 5-5, the Road Warriors look to avoid falling down to the lower two places in the quarterfinals.
Yeng Guiao and the Road Warriors looks to avoid slipping to the bottom spots in the quarterfinals.
NLEX won over Blackwater, 90-73, last Thursday.
The Beermen, meanwhile, are already assured of a quarterfinal seat with a 6-4 slate but would also want to build momentum as they enter the playoff round especially after they lost to Magnolia, 100-90.
Terrence Romeo remains in Manila and will be out for San Miguel’s match against Alaska.
The Aces, on the other hand, need to win their remaining two games in back-to-back days to clinch a quarterfinal berth, but hurdling the Beermen will definitely be a tough task for head coach Jeff Cariaso’s wards.
Alaska played in three straight days last week, going 1-2, losing in two consecutive games including a 105-89 defeat against Terrafirma.
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