ANTIPOLO – A rematch of last year’s PBA Philippine Cup Finals and Magnolia standing in the way of grand slam-seeking TNT are in store in the quarterfinals of the all-Filipino conference starting on Wednesday.
At the end of the elimination-round on Sunday, San Miguel clinched the No. 1 seed and will meet eighth-seed Meralco in a return bout of last year’s season conference finals which the Bolts won for a first-ever franchise championship.
READ Ginebra finishes strong to put away RoS, secure twice-to-beat spot
The Beermen along with NLEX, Magnolia, and Barangay Ginebra all finished with similar 8-3 records for the No. 1 spot. But the Beermen had the better quotient among the four teams to seal the No. 1 spot.
NLEX Road Warriors finished at No. 2 and will meet former coach Yeng Guiao and Rain or Shine in the next round.
Third-seed Magnolia plays the sixth-seed Tropang 5G as it tries to spoil TNT’s bid to become the next team behind the storied Purefoods franchise to win a grand slam after San Mig Coffee did it under Tim Cone in 2014.
Cone's Ginebra, meanwhile, faces No. 5 Converge FiberXers in the quarterfinals, which kicks off Wednesday at the Philsports Arena.
The Road Warriors tangle with the Elasto Painters on opening day at 5 p.m. followed by the Hotshots-Tropang 5G tussle.
On Friday, the Beermen battle the Bolts in the curtain raiser before the Kings take on the FiberXers in the main game at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
If necessary, the Rain or Shine-NLEX pairing and Magnolia-TNT will be played on Saturday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium, while the SMB-Meralco and Ginebra-Converge are set on Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum if necessary.
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