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PBA: Playoff bonuses up for grabs on final day of Governors’ Cup prelims

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ABS-CBN News

The fate of 6 teams and their shot at landing a spot in the top 4 and grabbing a twice-to-beat advantage boils down to the last two games of the elimination round of the PBA Governors&#x27; Cup on Sunday.Grand Slam-seeking San Miguel Beer (7-3) will tackle league-leading Meralco (8-2) at 6:45 p.m., which comes after the equally crucial Star-NLEX tussle at 4:30 p.m. at Araneta Coliseum.If Meralco and NLEX (7-3) win, they will join early qualifier TNT in the top 4 for the twice-to-beat bonus. In this scenario, Barangay Ginebra will also gain a berth.If San Miguel and Star (6-4) win, the Beermen will tie Meralco, TNT and Ginebra with identical 8-3 records, awarding them top-4 tickets.Any scenario besides those will require a tiebreaker to determine both halves of the quarterfinal bracket.Only TNT is safely through to the top 4.After a shaky start to the conference, San Miguel, needing one more championship to complete the Triple Crown, has won 4 straight games, including its streak-busting win over Ginebra and a close shave against winless Kia.The Beermen face a Meralco crew, riding a 3-game winning streak, that&#x27;s just as hot since acquiring Ranidel de Ocampo via trade from TNT.NLEX will enter Sunday&#x27;s game having played just once in the last 21 days. In their last outing, coach Yeng Guiao&#x27;s Road Warriors lost to TNT.From whipping boys in the first two conferences, NLEX has emerged as a force in this tournament. Playing for a purpose and achieving it — that of finishing in the top 4 — will be another feather in the Road Warriors&#x27; cap.&quot;I believe we are very close to breaking out as a contender in this league. Beating Star takes us a step closer to that objective,&quot; Guiao said in an <a href="https://www.pba.ph/news/guiao-no-win-no-twice-to-beat">article</a> posted on the PBA website.&quot;Must win for us. No win, no twice-to-beat. Like Rain Or Shine, Star needs very specific outcomes and some math to work in their favor to place in the top 4. Coach Chito Victolero&#x27;s team looks determined to set aside its so-so campaign so far if the Hotshots&#x27; 128-81 beatdown of Kia is any indication.&quot;Kung manalo kami (against NLEX), that&#x27;s the time we&#x27;ll try to compute kung ano mangyayari sa amin,&quot; stated Victolero. &quot;The only thing we can do is prepare hard to win. The important thing is to get the &#x27;W&#x27; on Sunday.&quot;Blackwater is fastened to the 8th seed, while Alaska, GlobalPort, Alaska and Kia are eliminated.(For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com/">ABS-CBN Sports website</a>.)

Grand Slam-seeking San Miguel Beer (7-3) will tackle league-leading Meralco (8-2) at 6:45 p.m., followed by the Star-NLEX tussle at 4:30 p.m.

Grand Slam-seeking San Miguel Beer (7-3) will tackle league-leading Meralco (8-2) at 6:45 p.m., followed by the Star-NLEX tussle at 4:30 p.m.