MANILA – Three teams are vying for the “twice-to-beat” advantage in the quarterfinals while five others fight for tournament lives as the 2018 PBA Commissioner’s Cup resumes Wednesday after a weeklong break.
Only four teams already know their fate heading into today’s match – Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (9-1 win-loss) is locked in on No. 1 with a twice-to-beat edge while Columbian Dyip, NLEX Road Warriors and Blackwater Elite were already eliminated.
Quarterfinal round begins July 9.
TNT KaTropa (7-3) will have a shot at the No. 2 spot if it wins over Painters on Saturday provided that Alaska Aces (7-3) loses its final eliminations match against Phoenix Fuel Masters on Friday.
If both KaTropa and Aces lose their last elimination matches, Meralco Bolts (7-4) will have a chance to snatch the second twice-to-beat advantage, depending on the final quotient from the three teams.
Defending champion San Miguel Beermen (5-4) also has a long shot of nabbing the twice-to-beat incentive if it wins its two remaining games against Elite on Wednesday and Magnolia Hotshots on Saturday.
Regardless of the outcome of their final matches, the least that KaTropa, Aces and Bolts can land on is in the best-of-three quarterfinals. Beermen can still be relegated to the twice-to-win disadvantage, depending on the outcome of its games.
Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings, currently on a four-game winning run, is tied for sixth with GlobalPort Batang Pier (5-5). The two teams will battle Friday night to have a shot at claiming the last best-of-three quarterfinals seat.
Hotshots (4-5) can sneak into the last best-of-three quarterfinals seat if it wins its last two games – against Road Warriors on Wednesday and Beermen on Saturday.
Fuel Masters (4-6) is in a must-win situation against Aces to force at least a knockout for the last spot. A loss will eliminate Phoenix from contention./PN
