The Elasto Painters leaned heavily on clutch baskets by veteran guard Eugene Tan to repulse the Port Masters, 69-59, while the Wizards rode high on the exploits of Arwind Santos and Jeff Chan to survive the Snackmasters, 92-86, in double-overtime.
Disposing of their respective semis rivals in two games, Rain or Shine and Magnolia arranged a rematch of their title duel in the 2004 Unity Cup won by the latter.
They begin their best-of-five finals series at 4 p.m. Thursday. Harbour Centre and Tortillos dispute the second runner-up honors in a one game playoff at 2 p.m. also Thursday.
"I’m blessed to have players like Jeff (Chan) and Arwind (Santos) but, as I said before, we have to play as a team to win games. We can’t win the championship by leaning on Jeff and Arwind alone. We will need a total team effort," said coach Koy Banal after bringing the team to a third finals stint.
"We had another tough game against Granny Goose. Hopefully, that would help us in good stead in the finals," Banal also said.
Chan and Santos, who combined for 33 points, pumped in a crucial three-pointer each in second overtime, helping Magnolia eventually fend off the stubborn Granny Goose.
It was another nerve-wracking victory for Magnolia which, in Game One, barely escaped with a 98-97 win.
Mark Isip scored a game-high 21 points with 15 coming in the first half. Kenny Williams contributed 12 rebounds and seven points.
Tan, meanwhile, emerged Rain or Shine’s biggest hero on a five-point binge that broke the back of Harbour Centre in another close battle.
The former University of Manila ace pointguard finished with nine points for Rain or Shine, which is determined to win the championship in what could be its farewell season in the league. The Welcoat Group is now finalizing its takeover of the Shell franchise in the PBA by September.
Just like in Game One, the Wizards waged a rally to frustrate the Cebu-based Snackmasters who took a 65-60 lead on back-to-back triples by Chico Lanete.
They maintained their five-point edge until Santos, Chan and Kim Valenzuela combined in a bristling 7-0 windup in regulation play.
The Snackmasters had 24 seconds to execute one final play for the win but failed in the face of the Wizards swarming defense.