SAN Miguel and Barangay Ginebra secured the last two twice-to-beat berths in the PBA Philippine Cup playoffs by pulling off huge victories at the end of the eliminations on Sunday night.
The Beermen made short work of the Northport Batang Pier, 126-91, to secure the No. 1 spot over twice-to-beat teams NLEX and Magnolia.
The Kings meanwhile, went on a fourth-quarter tear to take the fight out of the Elasto Painters and clinch the No. 4 spot.
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San Miguel will meet No. 8 seed and reigning champion Meralco in the quarterfinals, Barangay Ginebra faces fifth seed Converge, and No. 7 Rain or Shine now has to beat NLEX two in a row to go deeper in the playoffs.
Here are the three takeaways at the final playdate of the elimations at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
1. CLINCHING A TWICE-TO-BEAT TOO MUCH FOR RoS – the Elasto Painters needed to beat the Kings in order to finish in the Top 4. But they not only have to defeat Ginebra, they also have to win by 15 points in order to have a twice-to-beat edge in the quarterfinals. So when the Kings’ lead ballooned to 92-73 midway through the final quarter, Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao deemed it wise to just to cruise along and prepare for the playoffs against the Road Warriors. It’s Guiao’s modern version of ‘One step backwards, two steps forward’ formula.
2. SAN MIGUEL BACK IN THE DRIVERS’ SEAT – after missing out on the finals in the first two conferences, the Beermen have reclaimed the No. 1 seed in the All-Filipino Cup. June Mar Fajardo remains a steady presence in the middle for the team, CJ Perez is playing with the resolve of a Best Player of the Conference contender, and the Beermen’s support cast of Juami Tiongson, Marcio Lassiter, Don Trollano, Jericho Cruz, and the rest of the gang are all eager to win another championship for the proud franchise. What more, coach Leo Austria is back at the helm after the team missed out on the playoffs in the Commissioner’s Cup, a campaign that began with Austria taking over the coaching chores from Jorge Gallent after a 1-2 start. As the top-seeded team, can San Miguel go all the way and win the same tournament it dominated pre-pandemic?
3. WHAT’S NEXT FOR NORTHPORT? – the Batang Pier ended the season with yet another loss to end on a sour note a campaign that was just full of promise a conference ago when they were the top seed in the mid-season Commissioner’s Cup. Definitely, there’s a lot of questions hanging over the head of the franchise that lost marquee players Zavier Lucero, JM Calma, former Best Player of the Conference Arvin Tolentino, and just recently, William Navarro during the entire course of Season 49.
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