By JAY R. GOTERA
MANILA — The Barangay Ginebra Kings breezed to their fourth straight win, blowing past the Mahindra Floodbuster, 94-80, in the final elimination round game of the 2017 PBA Commissioner’s Cup on Friday night.
The Kings thus ended up as the top seed with a 9-2 win-loss card. San Miguel Beer, which earlier in the day defeated GlobalPort Batang Pier, and Star Hotshots also carried the same card. But having beaten both in the eliminations, Ginebra got the much-coveted top seeding with the twice-to-beat advantage.
This is the first time in two decades that the Kings are entering the playoffs as the top seeds. The last time they led the eliminations was in the 1997 Commissioner’s Cup, which they won.
The Kings will go up against the winner of Sunday’s Alaska vs. GlobalPort knockout match for the eighth seed.
SMB got the second seeding, and will need to beat the Phoenix Fuel Masters (7th seed) just once to advance to the semis.
Star took the third seed and will figure in a best-of-3 series against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (6th seed).
Meanwhile, the TNT KaTropa Texters emerged as the fourth seed, arranging another best-of-3 quarterfinals series against sister team Meralco Bolts (5th seed).
Ginebra led from start to finish, with Justin Brownlee again leading the Kings to victory with a team-high 22 points along with 10 boards and five assists.
Japeth Aguilar added 14 points and 9 rebounds. Mark Caguioa led the Ginebra bench mob with 13 markers and four boards.
The loss snapped the two-game win streak of the Floodbuster, who finished the conference with three wins overall in 11 games, good for 10th place.
Keith Wright led Mahindra with 21 points and 22 boards that all went down the drain.
The Floodbuster dominated the boards, 56-46, but were doomed by their poor shooting, hitting only 36 percent from the field, and turnovers totalling 22 in the game.
San Miguel Beer 112, GlobalPort 101
The San Miguel Beermen crushed the GlobalPort Batang Pier, 112-101, to clinch the second seed with the twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
The Beermen did not take any chances since a loss could see them tumbling to fourth place. Thus, they started hot and kept the fire burning until the final buzzer sounded.
SMB import Charles Rhodes exploded for 34 points and five boards. Chris Ross led the locals, scoring 17 points along with seven assists, six boards, and two steals, against just one turnover in 38 minutes.
June Mar Fajardo surprisingly did not start for SMB but still churned out 15 points, eight boards, and three assists in 27 minutes. Alex Cabagnot added a double-double 13 points and 10 boards.
Import Justin Harper led GlobalPort with 25 points and 12 rebounds. Terrence Romeo and Stanley Pringle added 21 points apiece.
Game Sunday: GlobalPort Batang Pier vs. Alaska Aces (playoff for quarterfinals' eighth seed).
