CONVERGE’S win over San Miguel on Wednesday has opened a very small window for the FiberXers to secure a twice-to-beat incentive in the PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals.
The FiberXers are now at solo fifth in the team standings as of posting time with a 7-4 win-loss record following their 100-97 win over the Beermen, who dropped into a tie with Barangay Ginebra and Magnolia for second place on 7-3 marks.
That kept Converge in contention for a twice-to-beat although the FiberXers' fate is no longer entirely in their hands.
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A series of events must happen in order for Converge to claim the incentive.
First, Magnolia must win over TNT on Friday for the FiberXers to still have a chance heading to Sunday’s final two games of the eliminations. There, NorthPort, already out of contention and only playing for pride, must defeat San Miguel on Sunday, and Ginebra must beat Rain or Shine in order for Converge to clinch the twice-to-beat.
In this scenario, Ginebra and Magnolia will join NLEX on top on 8-3 win-loss records, followed by Converge and San Miguel, both at fourth on 7-4 slates.
When the tiebreak applies, it is going to be Converge that will clinch the No. 4 seed and the twice-to-beat over San Miguel under the winner-over-the-other rule.
Under such a scenario, Converge would be facing San Miguel, which would fall to the No. 5 seed, if things fall into place for the FiberXers.
Even with the incentive, expect that the Converge-San Miguel quarterfinal clash will be an intense one judging from the elimination round game where the FiberXers lost an 18-point lead before recovering and claiming the win.
But again, a lot must happen for Converge in order to gain that twice-to-beat spot.
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