TNT, Rain or Shine eye semis berths in PBA Ph Cup

Sports

ARMED with twice-to-beat incentives, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the TNT Tropang Giga look to avoid complications when they seek quick entry to the Final 4 against separate opponents in the quarterfinal round of the 50th PBA Philippine Cup on Saturday, Dec. 27, at the Araneta Coliseum.

Rain or Shine battles the Meralco Bolts at 5:15 p.m. while TNT takes on the Magnolia Hotshots in the 7:30 p.m. main game.

For being the higher seeds, Rain or Shine and TNT are twice-to-beat in the separate series but the two teams would surely want to end it quickly and avoid going through a dangerous do-or-die tiff.

One series has been stretched to a sudden-death affair after the Barangay Ginebra Kings defeated the twice-to- beat Converge FiberXers last Thursday, Dec. 25, 105-85.

Converge and Ginebra will clash in a do-or-die match on Sunday, Dec. 28, with the victor earning the right to face the defending champions San Miguel Beermen.

The Beermen were the first to book a semifinal ticket as they didn’t have to use their twice-to-beat bonus after dominating the NLEX Road Warriors, 101-94, also on Thursday.

San Miguel, Rain or Shine, TNT, and Converge earned the crucial win-once incentives after finishing as the top four seeds after the eliminations.

Should Rain or Shine and TNT dispatch their respective opponents, they will forge their own Final 4 date in the All-Filipino tournament.(CCM)