Express seek to slam playoff door on Boosters

Air21 plays the executioner’s role as it tries to shut the door on Barako Bull’s playoff hopes in the PBA Philippine Cup Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum. The Express play the Energy Boosters in the curtain raiser, looking to avenge an embarrassing first-round loss to the same team and formally clinch the last quarterfinals berth in the season-opening meet. Although they have lost four of their last five games, the Express (4-7) are still favored to prevail in the 4 p.m. encounter against a Barako Bull side Air21 coach Yeng Guiao has steered to three league championships in the past. The Energy Boosters have lost seven straight games and are currently at the cellar with a 2-10 record, and another setback would mean the franchise is again going to miss the playoffs for the fifth straight conference. But giving Barako Bull a ray of hope is the team’s 89-79 win over Air21 last October 29, when the Energy Boosters rallied back from as much as an 18-point deficit in the third period to pull off the stunner. A win by Air21 will eliminate Barako Bull and Powerade (3-10), since the best that both teams can come up with would be four wins, one short of what will be needed to make the playoffs, given the other teams' current standings. In the event that Barako Bull repeats over Air21, the league’s worst team still has to survive defending champion Derby Ace in its final game on December 10, as well as hope that the Express would lose their last three assignments. In the second game, league leader San Miguel guns for a win over skidding Alaska in a bid to secure the No. 1 seeding in the playoffs. While already assured of one of the top two spots in the quarterfinals, the Beermen are still eyeing to grab another victory and extend their winning streak to six games. The Beermen turned back the Meralco Bolts Friday night for an 11-2 card. But the Aces need this one badly. Alaska’s campaign has gone on a tailspin, with two straight losses placing it in the lower half of the standings with a 5-7 record. The Aces are also seeking payback time against the Beermen, who beat them in the first round, 99-97, on a difficult drive to the basket by Alex Cabagnot at the buzzer. “Now that we’re assured of a quarterfinals seat, our focus at this point is to get playoff-ready," said Alaska coach Tim Cone. “We’ll use this game to search for our rhythm and build our confidence." Alaska is coming off a bitter 80-79 loss to Rain or Shine. The Aces led 79-70 in the final 4:42 of the game, but failed to scored from that point, allowing the Elasto Painters to steal the win. – JVP/KY, GMANews.TV