MAGNOLIA is in danger of missing a twice-to-beat incentive in the PBA 49th Season Philippine Cup with another defeat at the close of their elimination round campaign.
That scenario has emerged after the Hotshots lost back-to-back games to Barangay Ginebra, 85-81, last June 1, and NLEX, 107-99, last Friday.
At posting time, Magnolia has identical records with Ginebra at third place on 7-3 win-loss record heading to its crucial tussle against TNT on Friday.
Possible deadlock at fourth place between Magnolia, TNT
The Hotshots and the Tropang 5G could still end up in a tie for fourth place with a 7-4 win-loss record, assuming that San Miguel wins its last two games against Converge on Wednesday and NorthPort on Sunday, and Ginebra overcomes Rain or Shine on Sunday in their final elimination round assignment.
In this case, San Miguel will go up to 9-2, and Ginebra will end up at 8-3, and Converge and Rain or Shine also going down to 6-5, leaving Magnolia and TNT all by themselves in joint fourth.
Under tiebreaker rules, it is going to be TNT which will clinch the twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals and take the No. 4 seed due to the winner-over-the-other rule with Magnolia dropping to No. 5.
If this happens, it is going to be an unfortunate situation for Magnolia after it started out with six straight victories and was mostly in first place during the conference before going into a slump by losing three of its last four matches.
With that situation, Magnolia will face TNT again in the quarterfinals but needs to win two games over a team that is seeking a grand slam this season. The Tropang 5G only need to win once over the Hotshots in this scenario.
The good thing, however, is that Magnolia's fate is still in its own hands and a win over TNT on Friday will get it safely into the Top Four and claim a twice-to-beat advantage, certainly a doable feat for the Hotshots.
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