TNT, Meralco, and the rest of the field go all-out today as the sixth and final Leg of the PBA 3×3 Third Conference Season 3 starts at the Ayala Malls Market Market in Taguig.
The Triple Giga and the Bolts, who battled for the crown in the previous three legs, try to do an encore just before heading to the highly awaited grand finals.
But the nine remaining quartets are out to foil another TNT-Meralco title match as they seek to bag the Leg 6 diadem and take home the prize purse of P100,000.
TNT leaned on Almond Vosotros’ hot shooting in the endgame to eke out a 21-18 win over Meralco last week and avenge its loss to the same team during the Leg 3 and 4 Big Dance.
Curiously, TNT coach Mau Belen opted to put the prolific Vosotros, 34, in the reserved list this time and will lean instead on Ping Exciminiano, Chester Saldua, Xyrus Torres, and Gryann Mendoza.
Meralco, the winner of Legs 1, 3 and 4, is back in full strength with the re-activation of big man Alfred Batino to go along with the duo of Joseph Sedurifa and Jeff Manday, along with Raymar Caduyac.
After five legs, Meralco and TNT are in the top four of the Conference Tour points along with second-running MCFASolver and No. 4 Cavitex.
The top four teams after the six-leg phase are automatically seeded to the grand finals.
The battle for the remaining four berths in the grand finale remains a wide-open race among the rest of the cast, namely San Miguel Beer, Blackwater Smooth Razor, Purefoods, Terrafirma 3×3, Pioneer Elastoseal, Ginebra, and even NorthPort, which is currently at the bottom of the Third Conference ranking.
TNT, San Miguel, and Pioneer Elastoseal crowd each other out in Pool A of the group phase, Meralco is in Pool B with Terrafirma, Ginebra, and Northport, while Cavitex leads Pool C together with MCFASolver, Blackwater, and Purefoods.
As it gives way to the Women’s PBA 3×3 Invitational in the morning schedule, Leg 6 kicks off at 2:30 p.m. featuring the first game between Meralco and Terrafirma.
