TnT seeks playoff vs limping Sta. Lucia

Talk n Text and Sta. Lucia once again meet in a duel between the frontrunner and the cellar-dweller today with the former now taking a crack at an outright playoff for a semis berth and the latter fighting to avoid a tough twice-to-win task in the wildcard plays.

Shell likewise guns for an automatic playoff crack at the semis versus a FedEx team which, on the other hand, is still hoping to salvage a Final Four finish for a twice-to-beat advantage in the wildcard battles.

Barangay Ginebra and San Miguel Beer, meanwhile, motor to Laoag City where they play in the final out-of-town game feature of the Gran Matador PBA Philippine Cup classification round tomorrow at the Ilocos Norte Centennial Arena.

The Kings will also have an outright playoff crack at the semis in mind while the Beermen have a Magic Four finish as main concern.

The Pals, the Kings and the Turbochargers are locked in an extra-tight race for the two outright semis seat heading into the homestretch of the double-round classification battles.

The Pals and the Kings lead the field with identical 11-5 win-loss records, half-game in front of the Turbochargers (11-6), but they will still face each other at the end of their classification-round stints on Christmas Day at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Thus, a playoff to decide the Top Two or the two automatic semifinalists now looks inevitable.

But the scenario could be changed if any of the three teams loses their game today or tomorrow.

For it has become a virtual one-miss-you-die battle among the three teams as Talk n Text lost crucial grounds to Ginebra and Shell on a crucial defeat to the Turbochargers Wednesday.

The Kings should have assured themselves of at least a second-place finish had they beat the Turbochargers.