Kings, Dyip slug it out in crucial tiff

Games today (Smart Araneta Coliseum)

4:30 p.m. – Phoenix Pulse vs Blackwater Elite

7 p.m – Barangay Ginebra vs Columbian Dyip

Standings

TEAM    W            L

**NLEX                8              2 

**Meralco          8              2     

*TNT KaTropa    7              2  

*Ginebra             6              3    

*San Miguel       6              4   

Magnolia             5              5   

Columbian Dyip                4              6 

 Alaska  4              6     

NorthPort           4              6

Rain or Shine      3              7   

Phoenix               2              8    

Blackwater          2              8

*clinched quarterfinals

**clinched twice to beat

Expect a furious clash between equally-determined protagonists as fourth-running Barangay Ginebra, hunting for twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals, and No. 7 Columbian Dyip, yet to fully secure its spot in the PBA Governors’ Cup playoffs, face off tonight at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Gin Kings (6-3) put themselves in a good position in the race for the two remaining win-once incentives in the playoffs with a crucial 96-93 toppling of TNT KaTropa last week, and a follow-up in the 7 p.m. duel further will boost their shot at the playoff bonus.

Standing in their way is a Dyip side (4-6) out to cling on to its standing inside the Top 8. Columbian is tied with Alaska and NorthPort in the seventh to ninth positions. 

“We’re treating our last three (elims) games (including the TNT match) like it’s already the playoffs. We’re on playoff mode already, regardless of who we’re facing,” said Ginebra veteran LA Tenorio.

The Dyip’s advance was stalled by a 74-92 loss to Meralco last Friday but they can still salvage it.

“We’re in for a KO game. If we win our game against Ginebra, we’re in. But if we play like we did against Meralco, we’ll be in trouble,” said Columbian coach Johnedel Cardel. “We should wake up. We have four wins, we have a good import, we have good locals; we just need to work together to win.”

The Gin Kings are in a four-way battle for the last available quarterfinals advantage with TNT (7-2), San Miguel Beer (6-4) and even Magnolia (5-5).  “Luckily we have cushion. We beat them so we have cushion so that’s the key at this point. We control our destiny as we aim to make it to the Top 4,” said Ginebra mentor Tim Cone.

Also-rans Phoenix Pulse (2-8) and Blackwater (2-8) seek to give their sorry campaigns a bright ending at 4:30 p.m.

“We’d still try to go for that win. It would be nice to end our campaign on a winning note as we owe it to our fans and management to still give our best in our last game of the season,” said Phoenix’s Louie Alas.

“It would have been nice if we were playing for the quarterfinals but we will still treat this as a playoff game, looking ahead to the future,” said Elite counterpart Aris Dimaunahan.