MANILA — The twice-to-beat advantage is now in the bag for the San Mig Coffee Mixers, but they're not really ecstatic about it. With PJ Simon playing like a man on fire, the Mixers vanquished a surprisingly tough GlobalPort Batang Pier, 107-96, Friday in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena. Simon tallied 27 points while Yancy de Ocampo and Marc Pingris contributed 18 and 14 markers respectively to lead San Mig Coffee to their 10th win in 13 games. The win assured the Mixers of the No. 2 seeding — and the twice-to-beat advantage that goes with it — even if they lose their last elimination round assignment against the Meralco Bolts (7-6) Sunday. The pace-setting Talk N Text Tropang Texters earlier clinched the No. 1 seeding with an 11-2 card going into Sunday's game against the Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings (7-6). But instead of shouting for joy after securing the much coveted advantage, the Mixers are in a rather contemplative mood since they now have to beat the seventh seed, the under-performing yet still dangerous and power-packed Petron Blaze Boosters (6-8), in the quarterfinals beginning next Wednesday to be able to advance to the semis. Adding to San Mig Coffee's concerns was the condition of their top gunner James Yap who had been playing hurt in the Mixers' last two games due to bone spurs in both feet. San Mig head coach Tim Cone underscored the ironic situation his team is now in.“It's kind of crazy because our reward for winning this game is play Petron. But as I tell the players, you don't choose the team you play in the playoffs,” Cone said. GlobalPort bowed out of the 2012-2013 Philippine Cup with an unenviable 1-13 win-loss card. Despite playing their hearts out in an effort to salvage some pride, the Batang Pier folded up in the homestretch after taking a 78-73 lead at the start of the fourth quarter. A Simon-led 18-2 run by the Mixers was just too much for the Batang Pier to overcome. Gary David led GlobalPort with 22 points, while Rabeh Al-Hussaini chipped in 20 and six rebounds. In the first game of the Friday double-header, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters finally played with a complete roster with the return of reigning Rookie of the Year Paul Lee, and the result was a hardly surprising 116-101 clobbering of the Barako Bull Energy Cola. Lee played like he had not been sidelined by a dislocated left shoulder going back to the last season, forcing him to miss his team's last 18 games, as he churned 16 points, six assists and four rebounds in 20 minutes of action. As an indication of the new-found depth of the Rain or Shine bench, seldom used Jonathan Uyloan scored a career-high 18 points, and had three steals, and two blocks. Jervy Cruz led the Painters with a career-high 23 points, converting 10-of-17 from the field. Three other Painters scored in double digits – Jeff Chan and JR Quinahan with 11 points each while Beau Belga added 10. With a 9-5 win-loss card after its last game in the elimination round, Rain or Shine gets the Number 3 seeding in the quarterfinals. Barako Bull fell to a 4-10 card and became the second team after GlobalPort (1-13) to drop out of the conference. The Energy Cola's lost also allowed the Air 21 Express (5-9) to grab the last ticket to the quarterfinals. Barako Bull also had six players in double figures led by Danny Seigle with 21, but their combined output was not enough to keep their team alive even for another play date. Not even the late arrival of head coach Yeng Guiao in the game venue could dampen the spirit of the fired-up Painters. Guiao arrived at the Mall of Asia Arena late in the third quarter after being stuck in traffic for hours. Guiao said he was delighted to see his squad come away with an impressive victory despite his absence.
He particularly cited the return of Lee, his star player. “We're really very happy with the result. Our objective is to gain back the momentum after the losses, going to the quarterfinals. At the same time, be able also to play Paul Lee and have him get a feel of the game. True enough it's a good sign for us with the way he played tonight. He's gonna be adding a new dimension to the team going into the quarterfinals,” Guiao said.
