WITH the quarterfinals cast complete, San Miguel Beer and Phoenix’s next goal is to use their final elimination round assignment to position themselves for a better playoff seeding.
Both squads intend to do just that when they collide at 7:30 p.m. as the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup heads to its penultimate elimination round play date on Saturday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
The Beermen and the Fuel Masters are tied for 5th to 8th spots along with the Magnolia Hotshots and the TNT Tropang 5G with similar 6-5 records.
San Miguel’s lopsided 126-110 demolition of Terrafirma, along with Macau’s huge 105-98 win against Phoenix last Wednesday sealed the eight-team playoff cast.
The Beermen will try to use their final game of the elims to fine tune their offense with comebacking import Benie Boatwright in tow, while making sure they limit their turnovers and execute their plays in preparation for the playoffs.
Same is true with Phoenix, whose stinging loss to Macau dealt a big blow to the team’s top 4 chances, where the win-once incentive serves as a juicy bonus.
Boatwright delivered 30 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in the Beermen’s 16-point rout of the Dyip.
The Gilas Pilipinas naturalized candidate seems very comfortable playing for the Beermen, the team he led to the championship of this same conference two seasons back.
Boatwright has a solid cast to support him led by nine-time league Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo, CJ Perez, Jericho Cruz and Don Trollano.
Phoenix, on the other hand, will miss athletic guard Ricci Rivero for the second straight game as he continues to recover from a left hand injury he sustained last week in the team’s 100-97 overtime win against TNT.
Meanwhile, Blackwater and Converge will just try conclude their conference campaign on a winning note when they collide at 5:15 p.m.
The Bossing and the Titan Ultra Giant Risers are at the cellar as of this writing with their 2-9 record.
Converge hopes to learn every bit of lesson from the struggle it had as the FiberXers under coach Delta Pineda try to be better for the season-ending Governors’ Cup.
