MANILA, Philippines – NLEX breathed new life into its playoff hopes in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup, and at the same time, shut the door on San Miguel.
The Road Warriors assured themselves of at least a sudden death for the last quarterfinal berth after a 94-76 win over guest team Eastern at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, January 29.
Import Mike Watkins fired a conference-high 41 points on top of 14 rebounds and 2 blocks as NLEX ended the elimination round with a 6-6 record to improve to solo eighth.
“Today was a must win to get us to advance to the playoffs and I wasn’t ready to go home yet. Had to come give it the best energy I got,” said Watkins, who shot a healthy 18-of-27 from the field.
It was a victory that also had repercussions for the rest of the field as the result booted defending champion Beermen out of the playoff race.
With a 5-7 card, San Miguel will finish no higher than ninth place, with its shocking ouster marking the first time that it will miss the quarterfinals since the 2015 Commissioner’s Cup.
Incidentally, NLEX head coach Jong Uichico used to call the shots for the Beermen.
Uichico, though, said eliminating San Miguel was far from his mind as he kept his focus on giving NLEX a crack at reaching the next round — a possibility that seemed improbable after the Road Warriors once lost five straight games.
NLEX revived its campaign by concluding the eliminations on a three-game winning streak.
“I’ll always be glad to have a chance to get to the next round. How we get there, come what may,” said Uichico, who has won nine PBA championships as a head coach, including six with the Beermen.
“Two weeks ago, we were on the brink of elimination, but now, we have a chance. So we’ll take this.”
Robert Bolick backstopped Watkins with 21 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds, while rookie Jonnel Policarpio and Javee Mocon chimed in 9 points each.
With the win, the Road Warriors can finish as high as seventh for an outright quarterfinal spot depending on the results of the games of Rain or Shine (6-5) and Magnolia (5-6) on Friday, January 31, at the PhilSports Arena.
Chris McLaughlin supplied 18 points, 17 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals for Eastern, which finished the eliminations with back-to-back losses for a 7-5 slate.
The Scores
NLEX 94 – Watkins 41, Bolick 21, Mocon 9, Policarpio 9, Herndon 6, Torres 5, Ramirez 3, Alas 0, Semerad 0.
Eastern 76 – McLaughlin 18, Blankley 14, Yang 12, Lam 11, Cao 5, Cheuung 5, Chan 4, Guincahrd 3, Pok 2, Leung 2.
Quarters: 18-23, 43-42, 65-57, 94-76.
– Rappler.com