TNT secured a twice-to-beat advantage for the PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup quarterfinals following a 94-83 victory over Magnolia in the penultimate game of the eliminations at the SMART Araneta Coliseum on Sunday evening.
Much of the attention was on LA Tenorio being the Hotshots’ playing head coach but that became a mere footnote as the Tropang 5G took control early and led hugely during the third before finishing strong to clinch the no. 3 seed.
Last season’s double champions finished their preliminaries campaign with an 8-3 record and will face the no. 6 seed in the playoffs’ first round next week.
Magnolia, on the other hand, finished 6-5 card and are heading into the final eight with a twice-to-win disadvantage as they will end up outside the top four.
