Games today:
Mall of Asia Arena
4:15 p.m.- Meralco vs. San Mig Coffee
6:30 p.m.- Talk ‘N Text vs. Barangay Ginebra
THE ELIMINATION round of the 38th PBA Philippine Cup ends today with a pair of non-bearing games at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Meralco Bolts play the San Mig Coffee Mixers in the first game while the defending champions Talk ’N Text Tropang Texters collide with the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the main game.
Talk ’N Text, which is sporting an 11-2 (win-loss) record, and San Mig, which has 10-3 slate, will be the top two seeds in the quarterfinal round with the former grabbing the number one spot followed by the latter.
The top two seeds will have twice-to-beat edges in the quarterfinal round, where the Texters play the Air21 Express and the Cofee Mixers taking on the under-achieving but dangerous Petron Blaze Boosters.
Petron finished the elimination round with a 6-8 record, while Air21 collected five victories against nine losses.
Meralco and Ginebra are already assured of quarterfinal seats and today’s games will be for positioning purposes only.
Meralco, Ginebra, the Rain Elasto Painters and the Alaska Aces will compete in a best-of-three of series. The pairings will be determined after today’s double-header.
Rain or Shine will be the number three seed going into the playoffs after ending the preliminary round with a 9-5 slate. The Aces piled up eight victories in 14 outings.
Ginebra and Meralco both have 7-6 slates going into their respective games today.
First to be eliminated were the Barako Bull Energy Colas and Globalport Batang Pier.
The Energy Colas finished the tournament with a 4-10 record, while Globalport could win once in 14 games and bowed losing their last 10 matches. /EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA