Games Today
(Cuneta Astrodome)
4:15 p.m. – Mahindra vs Star
7 p.m. – Alaska vs Rain or Shine
Alaska and Rain or Shine hold the fate of the playoff race in the palm of their hands as they face off in the final elimination round playdate of the PBA Philippine Cup at the Cuneta Astrodome.
The two teams clash at 7 p.m. with the Aces needing a win to secure the twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals while the Elasto Painters seek to complete playoff cast while avoiding the predicament of facing the Blackwater Elite in a do-or-die match for the No. 8 seed.
A loss by Alaska will open the door for Star to secure the twice-to-beat bonus, whether it wins or loses the 4:15 pm opener against Mahindra.
The Aces and Hotshots share identical 6-4 records, with the former holding the tiebreaker owing to their 97-90 overtime win last Jan. 11 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
If both teams lose, then a complicated logjam for second to eighth at 6-5 along with Rain or Shine, TNT KaTropa, GlobalPort, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel, and Phoenix would occur. That scenario gives Star the second spot twice-to-beat due to a superior quotient.
Alaska would fall in the third to sixth places, meaning a best-of-three series and preventing the dreaded seventh or eighth, which would mean that the Aces must win twice against either the No. 1 or No. 2 squad in the quarters.
While the Aces have a luxury of losing to the Painters, coach Alex Compton would like to see his team enter the quarters with momentum.
“We still want to win that Rain or Shine game and play great,” Compton said after the Aces steamrolled past the Phoenix Fuel Masters, 106-85, last Friday.
Rain or Shine is at 5-5 and has lost its last three games, including a 117-98 defeat to GlobalPort last Sunday. That prompted coach Caloy Garcia to criticize his team’s poor play, even going the full route of describing how the Elasto Painters have become a different team compared to the days of his predecessor, current NLEX mentor Yeng Guiao.
“They’re not like the old Rain or Shine team na we help each other out,” Garcia said. “Ngayon, watak-watak yung dating nila, and I told them that I’m not coach Yeng that’s gonna curse you guys. We know what the problem is and we just have to fix it, the main problem is between them.”
“Nawawala yung sharing ng bola, parang minsan nagkakahiyaan sila sa pasahan. We are not as fluid as before, and I told them that I don’t know what happened during the season. We were just No. 2 at the time when we were moving the ball and playing defense.”
Meanwhile, Star seeks to end the elims with a four-game winning streak and is coming off a comprehensive 120-77 rout of Meralco last Saturday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.