THE race for the remaining quarterfinal bonus in the PBA Philippine Cup gets tougher as no less than five teams are in the mix including two which see action when season-opening conference resumes on Friday.
Here’s what to expected in the penultimate playdate of the eliminations
TNT VS. BLACKWATER
When: Dec. 19, 5:15 p.m.
Where: Ninoy Aquino Stadium
The Tropang 5G are the only other team that can reach win No. 8 and gain an outright quarterfinals berth without complications. And a win against the skidding Bossing would put coach Chot Reyes and his team on track of that goal.
Will Roger Pogoy finally play?
At 6-3, TNT is in solo third place despite missing the services of the 33-year-old Pogoy due to a hamstring injury.
Pogoy was not around in the team’s blowout loss to Magnolia (110-95) and blowout win over NLEX (119-100) and missed his averages of 15.2 points (second best in the team), 3.5 rebounds, and 2.4 assists.
Reyes said the top gunner from Cebu was expected to miss only two games for his injury and is poised to return to the active roster list in the tailend of the elims.
TNT can’t afford to lose
A loss would set back the Tropang 5G’s bid for a finish inside the Magic 4 as it will fall to a tight logjam at fourth place in the company of Magnolia, Meralco, and Barangay Ginebra, bringing in possible complications via the quotient system.
San Miguel (8-2) and Rain or Shine (8-3) already clinched the first two quarterfinals bonus, while Converge (7-4) has one foot inside the Top 4 door.
Bossing looking to end losing streak
Blackwater is already out of the running for a playoffs berth, but certainly wants to end its campaign on a winning note. The Bossing are mired deep in the standings at 1-9 and in the midst of a nine-game losing streak.
Their only win came at the expense of Terrafirma, 107-87, last Oct. 10, or a stretch of two-month skid for the franchise
SAN MIGUEL VS. MERALCO
When: Dec. 19, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Ninoy Aquino Stadium
The two teams that met in the Philippine Cup Finals in Season 48 tangle anew and put on their current winning streaks on the line.
Bolts out of Top 4 with a loss
Meralco put itself in a position for a shot at the twice-to-beat incentive by winning its last three outings to climb the standings at 6-4.
But losing against the Beermen would mean kissing their bid for a Top 4 finish goodbye and relegate them to the Bottom 4 of the playoffs along with NLEX where they need to win twice in the quarterfinals to advance.
CJ Cansino on fire
The sophomore guard is slowly emerging as Meralco’s top gun this conference, averaging 19.0 points per outing including a career-high 29 points in an all-important win over Converge in the team’s last game, 105-84.
Cansino played huge in all three outings of the Bolts after the all-Filipino conference resumed following the FIBA window, averaging 23.7 points and 5.7 rebounds to clinch a well-deserved Player of the Week honor.
SMB warming up for the playoffs
With the Beermen already securing a twice-to-beat bonus in the next round, coach Leo Austria said the team is now priming up for the quarterfinals where they’re set to clash with the No. 8 seeded team.
The defending champions are in solo first place at 8-2 following the loss of Rain or Shine to Barangay Ginebra in Dubai (102-100) and are assured of the top seed.
Even with a loss, San Miguel will also get the top seeding even if it ends up tied with the Elasto Painters at 8-3 as the Beermen beat Yeng Guiao and Co. in their lone encounter in the eliminations, 111-93.
Currently, they also hold the tournament’s longest winning streak at eight.
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