TNT faces elimination and the end of its grand slam bid on Wednesday against Magnolia as the PBA 49th Season Philippine Cup quarterfinals begin at the Philsports Arena.
Also in danger of their season coming to a close on Wednesday is, ironically, TNT’s semifinal opponent over the last two conferences in Rain or Shine, which battles NLEX - a team looking to continue its stellar run with a rare semifinal appearance.
Here are the other storylines for Wednesday’s games.
NLEX VS. RAIN OR SHINE
When: Wednesday, June 18. 5 p.m.
Where: Philsports Arena
NLEX seeks for first semis stint in four years
Second-seed NLEX goes for a semifinal spot in Wednesday’s game against Rain or Shine. The Road Warriors haven’t reached the Final Four in four years, with their 2021 Governors’ Cup serving as their last appearance where they lost to Barangay Ginebra. NLEX is gunning for only its third semifinals stint in franchise history.
Rain or Shine tries to stay alive
After semifinal finishes in the past three conferences, Rain or Shine is now facing elimination in its match-up against NLEX. The Elasto Painters finished the eliminations as the seventh seed, their lowest since they had the same ranking in the 2023-24 Commissioner’s Cup where they lost to San Miguel.
Expect full strength line-up
The past few games had NLEX and Rain or Shine missing players but, this time, expect them to be at full strength. Tony Semerad (back), Javee Mocon (buttocks), Matt Nieto (heel), Dominic Fajardo (foot), and Ritchie Rodgers (appendix operation) were out in previous games for NLEX. Caelan Tiongson (ankle) and Kris Porter (flu) were also missed by Rain or Shine at the close of the eliminations. With a lot on the line, expect, at least most of them, to back for Wednesday’s game.
Can Xyrus Torres repeat his hot shooting vs ROS?
In their elimination round encounter last April 12, NLEX beat Rain or Shine, 109-97, with Xyrus Torres erupting for 28 points on 11-of-12 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from three-point distance. The quarterfinal match against ROS could see another eruption from Torres since he was relatively quiet in their last game against NorthPort where he had 11 points but was only 1-of-2 from threes.
Fresh legs for Elasto Painters
In Rain or Shine’s last eliminations game against Barangay Ginebra, head coach Yeng Guiao noticeably spread the minutes of his players with top star Adrian Nocum playing only 16 minutes, his lowest this conference, but still ended up with 13 points. Expect Nocum to have fresh legs for the do-or-die match-up against NLEX.
MAGNOLIA VS. TNT
When: Wednesday, June 18. 7:30 p.m.
Where: Philsports Arena
Magnolia eyes semis return
For a team that has a long tradition of winning, three conferences of not making the semifinals is quite a long time. Magnolia has a chance to end that slump on Wednesday when it takes on TNT in the quarterfinals. The Hotshots look to go deep into this campaign after finishing third in the eliminations. The last time they made the semifinals was during the 2023-24 Commissioner’s Cup where they placed runner-up.
Hotshots with psychological advantage vs Tropang 5G
Magnolia ended the elimination round with an 88-83 win over TNT, a victory that sealed its place in the Top Four. It eventually arranged a quarterfinal match against TNT in what has essentially became somewhat of a best-of-three series.
Better at the 4-point line than at the 3-point range
Third-seed Magnolia has taken advantage of the four-point line this conference. Curiously, Magnolia is shooting better in fours than in the threes, percentage-wise, over the last seven games. The Hotshots are an impressive 30 of 46 or 65 percent from fours, compared to 35 of 143 or 24 percent from threes. If the fours start clicking again, that could be trouble for TNT.
BGR returns
Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser is returning for TNT in Wednesday’s game after serving a one-game suspension from his ejection during the Barangay Ginebra contest. The Tropang 5G need all the help inside the paint as they were outrebounded, 17-12, in the fourth quarter of the contest against the Hotshots.
Is grand slam bid ending tonight?
Seeded No. 6 and in a twice-to-win situation, a loss would mean the end of their bid to capture the grand slam. Ironically, standing in the way of TNT’s bid is Magnolia, which was the last team to achieve such a rare feat in the 2013-2014 season when they were still San Mig Coffee.
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