SAN Miguel is closing in on taking the No. 1 seed in the PBA 49th Season Philippine Cup quarterfinals.
The Beermen face NorthPort in their final game of the elimination round, and a win will set the Beermen up for the top seed in the quarterfinals.
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However, an upset loss to the Batang Pier, already out of contention for the quarterfinal berth, could spell trouble for the Beermen which can even send them down in the standings and miss the twice-to-beat incentive.
If ever San Miguel loses to NorthPort in the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader to close the elimination round, the Beermen would need the help of Rain or Shine in its match-up against the Barangay Ginebra.
A Rain or Shine victory in this scenario will set up a four-way tie for third place with San Miguel, Barangay Ginebra, and Converge at 7-4 win-loss.
Ties will be broken in a quotient system, and San Miguel is likely to take the No. 3 and a twice-to-beat advantage in this scenario since the Beermen won by 11 over Barangay Ginebra, won by nine against Rain or Shine, and lost by three to Converge, bringing its point differential to +17.
However, if San Miguel loses to NorthPort, it’s fate will be in the hands of its sister team Barangay Ginebra. That is because a win by Ginebra will send San Miguel in a tie for fourth place with Converge with a 7-4 win-loss record.
Their head-to-head match-up will break the tie, and it is going to be Converge which will be capturing that No. 4 seed due to the FiberXers’ 100-97 win over the Beermen just last Wednesday. SMB will take the No. 5 seed and will need two wins to beat Converge in the quarterfinals.
As much as the No. 1 seed is within reach for the San Miguel, so is the bottom four rankings of the quarterfinals.
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