WHETHER they make it to the playoffs outright or do it the hard way will be known today in a pair of matches ending the PBA Governors Cup’s eliminations at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Meralco takes on Phoenix Super LPG while TNT tackles streaking NorthPort, with the results helping determine the official makeup and ranking of the eight-team quarterfinals.

Notwithstanding a shock 100-101 loss to Blackwater last Wednesday, Magnolia retained top spot and the No. 2 seed while NLEX also has a lock on the second spot.

The other slots in the last eight remain up for grabs.

A fifth straight win by TNT will not only lodge it in third but also cut short NorthPort’s own five-game winning streak and drop the Batang Pier to ninth and out of the playoffs picture.

NorthPort needs to win to automatically nab eighth or at least play off for the last quarterfinals ticket.

The key for his team, according to TNT coach Chot Reyes, is finding ways to stop NorthPort’s main offensive weapons in Jamel Artis, Robert Bolick, Arwind Santos and Jamie Malonzo.

“All those guys are buckets,” Reyes said after the Tropa’s 127-107 win over Terrafirma last Wednesday.

“In terms of approach, it has to be a defensive approach,” added Reyes. “It has to be a defensive mindset. We have to find a way to stop NorthPort’s offensive juggernaut.”

Also with repercussions to the rest of the standings is the opener, which Phoenix coach Topex Robinson believes would be of great help to his side moving forward.

“We’re excited for the opportunity to learn and grow,” Robinson said. “Meralco is a championship-caliber team and we want to test how far we’ve come as a team.”

Left unsaid by Robinson is the fact the Fuel Masters will also benefit from more playoff games and they would have those with a No. 6 slot attained by not only them but also the Tropa winning.

A loss will drop Phoenix into ninth or, at most, having to play off for the last quarterfinals berth.

Meralco’s goal is definitely higher since a win would boost it to as high as No. 4 and the last twice-to-beat advantage in the next round.

A fourth straight loss, however, would dump the Bolts to no higher than sixth, quite a letdown for the same team that started the season-ending conference at 4-0.

DESPITE not getting the well-round performance coach Chot Reyes wanted, TNT still manhandled Terrafirma 127-107 yesterday to book a quarterfinals seat in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Tropang Giga’s offense more than made up for what their defense lacked as they outgunned the Dyip in every quarter enroute to their fourth straight win that jacked their record to 6-4 and earned them inclusion among the eight teams advancing to the next round.

Another win against NorthPort at eliminations’ end on Friday and TNT would finish within the top four with a win-once advantage in the quarterfinals that comes with it.

First, however, the Tropa must still polish their game to the form Reyes desires.

“I hope we’re not yet peaking because there’s still a lot of things for us to work on in our game,” he said. “Our defense was terrible today, just horrible.

“The good thing is, there are still a couple more games and I know we’re in for a very, very tough battle on Friday against NorthPort. They’re the hottest team in the league now so that way we’re gonna be tested. Let’s see how we play there. If we defend them like we did tonight we’ll be in trouble.”

TNT’s offense left little to be desired, however, as Aaron Fuller’s 24 points and 12 rebounds led a balanced attack that took its toll on Terrafirma right in the opening quarter and the rout becoming a very distinct possibility when the Tropa led by as much as 90-71 late in the third period.

After being held to just four points in the first half, Mikey Williams heated up in the last 24 minutes to finish with 16 points, six assists and four rebounds while Jayson Castro chipped in 15 points and six dimes of his own. Poy Erram and Kib Montalbo scored 12 markers apiece.

What obviously pleased Reyes was the fact TNT had a 74-42 advantage in points in the paint, although it was not originally part of the plan. “Our offense is such that we just take what the defense gives us,” he said.

“I thought they were doing a good job running our shooters in the three-point line, we couldn’t make our shots early. So we went to where we thought we had another advantage. Our big guys did a good job there.”

Terrafirma ended another disappointing campaign on a five-game losing skid to drop to 2-9 as it formally failed to get past the eliminations anew.

Antonio Hester had 30 points and 13 rebounds, while Ed Daquioag had 19 points. Joshua Munzon had 16 points for the Dyip, who missed the services of the injured Juami Tiongson.

“We caught a break when one of their best players didn’t play tonight. That was a big break for us,” said Reyes of Tiongson, who averages close to 18 points a game but sprained his right ankle in practice.

Erram joined hands with Troy Rosario and Glenn Khobuntin in a 12-2 run for that initial 19-point lead before Fuller’s last basket of the game off a layup kept TNT ahead at 120-101.

MIKE Harris gave Alaska a big dose of what it missed when he led Magnolia to a cruising 118-91 win over his former team yesterday in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Harris notched 36 points and 10 rebounds, the bulk of those points enabling the Hotshots to get off to a fiery start and gain early big separation from the Aces, who opted not to bring back the American in the 2019 edition of the same tourney despite him taking them all the way to the finals the year before.

The former Best Import awardee saw action in just three quarters. But Magnolia’s other players, including the relievers, did not let up and even stretched the gap to as much as 105-76, at about the midway point of the fourth period.

“In the pre-game, sinabi ko lang sa kanila na there is no such thing as no-bearing,” said Magnolia coach Chito Victolero. “Our attitude, our mindset, and our system is the most important game is kung ano ‘yung lalaruin.”

Ultimately, the Hotshots formalized their third straight win and a 9-1 record overall, aside from officially claiming the top seeding in the ensuing eight-team quarterfinals where they would tote a win-once advantage over the eighth-ranked squad.

Victolero also said they have no plan on letting up when they wind up the eliminations against Blackwater on Wednesday. “We’ll try to get the momentum that we want going to the playoffs,” he sadid.

Ian Sangalang provided main support to Harris with 14 points and Jio Jalalon also coming off the bench to emerge with his own double-double of 12 points and 11 assists.

RK Ilagan’s 14 points were enough to lead Alaska as import Olu Ashaolu could not match Harris’ production, being limited to just 12 points and 10 rebounds. The Nigerian-Canadian could even have failed to finish in double digits if not for a late and inconsequential triple.

With their failure to bounce back from a 99-104 loss to Phoenix Super LPG last Thursday, the Aces finished the eliminations with a 6-5 slate, their ranking in the quarterfinals dependent on the other remaining matches featuring other teams with similar six wins.

Spoiled by Magnolia’s win was the formal retirement ceremony held at halftime by Alaska for Sonny Thoss.

Thoss’ No. 7 jersey was retired in honor of the Fil-German’s contributions, not only to the team which he played for in his entire PBA career since being picked at fifth overall in 2004 up to 2019 but also his numerous services for the national team.

The Hotshots also had their own celebration for a center as well as the game marked Rafi Reavis’ 800th in the league, only the 10th player to have scaled the plateau in league history.

DU’VAUGHNN Maxwell proved Phoenix Super LPG’s trust in him was well-founded yesterday, helping power the team past Alaska 104-99 in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Fuel Masters’ third import for the conference collected 21 points and 21 rebounds, including a basket and a foul with 20.5 seconds left that served as the dagger and stopped the Aces right on their tracks.

Maxwell failed to complete the three-point play, but RJ Jazul capped his own heroics with a charity that all but sealed the game as Phoenix snapped a three-game funk, improved to an even 5-5 record, and fanned its hopes of catching the quarterfinals bus.

“We know how important this game is for us and we also know that Alaska is on a run and we respect that team so much,” said Fuel Masters coach Topex Robinson. “Again, we played it all out and made sure that we’re focusing on what we prepared for coming to this game.”

Robinson believes he has finally found the right import after original reinforcement Paul Harris got injured and first replacement Dominique Sutton proved incapable of boosting his team.

“I think what he brought to us was solid defense on the paint,” Robinson said of Maxwell.

“He’s making smart moves down the stretch, he was making his shots. But most importantly. I think, was the energy he brings to the team. Especially on an import(-laden) conference wherein you really have to have somebody who the locals can believe in. And I think Du’vaughn is the right fit for us.”

Matthew Wright led all scorers with 26 points and also had a game-high 11 assists, while Jason Perkins shrugged off foul trouble to finish with 22 points. Jazul also had 21 points.

The defeat was a bitter pill for Alaska, which dropped to 6-4 and needs to win over Magnolia on Sunday to avoid any complication another loss might bring.

The Aces surely tried, razing an 80-92 fourth quarter deficit through a 13-0 to briefly wrest the lead 93-92, still 5:35 left.

There was no denying Phoenix, however, as Perkins boomed in a triple and then followed up Maxwell’s basket with his own putback before Jazul banked in a floater to make it a 101-97 count.

After Yousef Taha brought Alaska within 99-101, Maxwell converted a layup off a pick-and-roll play with Wright while drawing a foul from Olu Ashaolu.

“We just stuck together,” said Robinson. “We know that if we play offense with this team it’s going to be hard. So our main focus was to make stops.”

Ashaolu notched his own double-double of 24 points and 10 rebounds on top of six assists.

Robert Herndon and Mike Digregorio came off the bench to add 17 and 13 points, respectively, while Jeron Teng, Maverick Ahanmisi and Taha each chipped in at least 10 points.

NORTHPORT handily beat hapless Blackwater 116-103 yesterday for its fourth straight win and moved closer to the PBA Governors Cup playoffs at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Just days removed from his recent Gilas Pilipinas stint that caused him to miss two games, Robert Bolick made a strong impact on his return with a team-high 30 points on top of 11 rebounds and six assists.

Jamel Artis had 26 points and nine rebounds and Arwind Santos had a double-double of 21 markers and 13 boards as the Batang Pier improved their record to 4-5 in a tied with recent victim Phoenix Super LPG at eighth.

More victories in its remaining games against Terrafirma on Saturday and TNT on March 11 will give NorthPort a clearer shot at making it through to the eight-team quarterfinals.

Coach Pido Jarencio heaped most of the credit to the hard work put in by all of his charges.

“Total team effort,” he said. “Everybody stepped up, especially the first group. Everybody wants to win. From 0-5, we worked hard for these four straight wins. Ibig sabihin, everybody’s doing his share. Of course, may mga exceptional players. Robert coming back, Artis steady, Arwind consistent.”

All but one of the nine players Jarencio fielded in contributed, with fellow starters Jamie Malonzo adding 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks and Jerick Balanza chipping in 10 points, four boards and three dimes.

The onslaught, which started as early as late in the opening quarter and reached its peak when Artis’ mid-range jumper made it a 95-75 count, was simply too much for Blackwater, which absorbed its ninth loss in as many games and ran up its losing streak since last year to 28.

Shawn Glover had a game-high 47 points to go with 12 rebounds but once again got little support from the other Blackwater players.

Paul Desiderio and Rashawn McCarthy tried and were mainly instrumental in bringing the Bossing back to within 91-99, still 6:57 left in the game.

The threat was quickly quelled, however, when Santos strung up five straight points that sparked a 12-4 exchange and jacked NorthPort’s lead back to a safer 111-95.

Desiderio scored nine points in the fourth period to finish with 17 while Casio wound up with 13 points and eight assists while McCarthy scored 11 points as Blackwater now shifts its sights on ending its slump either against TNT on Friday or Magnolia next Wednesday.