MERALCO and Magnolia found themselves on a collision course in the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals after NLEX's loss to San Miguel on Friday.
The Bolts, Hotshots, and the Road Warriors closed the elimination round tied for fourth place on 7-4 win-loss records. But Meralco secured the fourth and final twice-to-beat incentive in the quarterfinals due to a superior quotient.
READ: SMB win denies NLEX a twice-to-beat spot
Under PBA rules, a three-way tie will be broken through the quotient system based on the winning margin in the games among the teams involved in the tie.
Meralco got the superior quotient and the fourth seed with a 1.0989 quotient thanks to its 114-98 win over NLEX and 86-84 victory over Magnolia, which ended up fifth with a 1.0741. The Hotshots also beat the Road Warriors, 119-103.
Unfortunately for the Road Warriors, they dropped all the way to No. 6 due to their losses to Meralco and Magnolia in the eliminations. They finished with a 0.8627 quotient.
A win by NLEX would have guaranteed it the fourth spot but a 120-106 defeat over San Miguel cost the Road Warriors twice-to-beat advantage in the playoffs.
So far, the Meralco-Magnolia clash was the first match-up to be settled, with the rest of the pairings to be determined by the results of the game between San Miguel and Rain or Shine, and TNT and Barangay Ginebra on Friday at the Philsports Arena.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph