LEADERS NLEX and San Miguel suffered similar fates in the final week of the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations.
The Road Warriors couldn’t pull through this time with their undermanned rotation, dropping a 113-108 loss against the Northport Batang Pier in the team’s final game prior to the playoffs.
The Beermen meanwhile, couldn’t sustain their huge comeback from 18 points down and fell to the Converge FiberXers.
SCENARIOS: NLEX, SMB, Ginebra, Magnolia ending up tied for first place?
The pair of setbacks left the door still open for the No. 1 seed heading to the playoffs, with NLEX keeping its hold of the solo lead at 8-3 and San Miguel close behind at 7-3 in a tie with Barangay Ginebra and Magnolia.
The Beermen have one outing remaining against Northport in a game whose outcome would have a say on where the favored team will end up in the standings before the quarterfinals.
On the other hand, Converge is at solo third place at 7-4 although it’s unlikely the team could finish in the Top 4 - and gain a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
Northport ended an eight-game skid and won its first game in the post-Arvin Tolentino era for a 2-8 record. The Batang Pier still have one game left against the Beermen on Sunday.
Listed below are the three takeaways from Wednesday night’s doubleheader at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
1. ’THE BEAST’ STILL HAS SOME SWAGGER LEFT – veteran forward Calvin Abueva brought his energy to the Batang Pier as proven by his first two games with the team after being taken in a trade with Magnolia for fellow big man William Navarro. He had 19 points, eight rebounds, four assists, and five steals in the stunner against the Batang Pier. His 19-point output is his highest in the last two season as per PBA resident statistician Fidel Mangonon III. In all, the 37-year-old pride of Angeles City averaged 18.5 points 7.5 rebounds, and 3.5 assists as a Batang Pier while averaging 32 minutes of play. Like a true pro, it’s still all business for Abueva, who appears ready to restart his career all over again with his new team.
2. SCHONNY WINSTON ALWAYS IN HIS SUNDAY BEST AGAINST SMB – the Fil-Am guard came through for the FiberXers at crunch time, scoring 12 fourth-quarter points to help the team survive a huge San Miguel run and pull off the thrilling win. He finished with a second career-best 25 points along with four rebounds, four assists, and two steals while shooting 50 percent from the field (7-of-14). The sophomore came a point short of equaling his career-high of 26 points which he scored against no less than San Miguel too, during Game 4 of the season-opening Governors’ Cup quarterfinals which Converge also won, 114-110.
3. ROAD WARRIORS FAILED TO LOCK UP NO. 1 SEED – the top seed could have gone to NLEX by now had it beaten Northport, given that San Miguel lost to Converge later in the night. The Road Warriors would have ended up with a 9-3 slate and only the second No. 1 seed in franchise history after their breakthrough during the 2019 Governors’ Cup. The loss left the door for San Miguel to tie NLEX at the top should it win over Northport in its final game in the elims. The Beermen own their head-to-head match up with the Road Warriors owing to a 98-89 victory.
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