2019 MPBL Playoffs

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2019 MPBL Playoffs

Country	Philippines
Dates	March 12 – April 25, 2019
Teams	16
Defending champions	Batangas City Athletics
Champions	San Juan Knights
Runners-up	Davao Occidental Tigers
Semifinalists	Manila Stars Batangas City Athletics
Matches played	39
← 2018 2020 →
All statistics correct as of April 8, 2019.

The 2019 MPBL Playoffs also known as the MPBL Datu Cup Playoffs, was the postseason tournament of the 2018–19 MPBL Datu Cup, the league's second overall, and the first under a new playoff format. The postseason tournament began on March 12,^[1] day after the end of regular season on March 11, 2019, and ended at the conclusion of the 2019 MPBL Datu Cup Finals.^[2] The 2019 MPBL Finals saw the Davao Occidental Tigers battled San Juan Knights for the national championship, with the Knights winning in five games, 3 games to 2.

Overview[]

• The Batangas City Tanduay Athletics enter the year-long season as the defending champions, winning the 2018 MPBL Anta Rajah Cup championship.
• The Manila Stars were the first team in the season to qualify for the playoffs, as it is also their first playoff appearance.
• The Makati Super Crunch, San Juan Knights both made their first postseason appearances.
• Both the Bataan Risers and the Bulacan Kuyas earned their second playoff appearances.
• For the Southern Division, the Davao Occidental Tigers are the first team from the said division to qualify for the playoffs.

Format[]

Within each division, the eight teams with the most wins qualify for the playoffs.

All brackets are fixed, there shall be no reseeding. The first three rounds of the playoffs are in a best-of-three series. A team that first earn two wins win the series and advances to the next round. The best-of-five series shall be played in the finals. The first team to win three games would win the championship. Not all games would be in a home-and-away format as the league implements a schedule which has two games played per game day, meaning, the second game only is the game which has the home-and-away basis. The venues might be different per series. But in the finals, the home-and-away basis will be observed with a 2–2–1 format.

The top 4 teams will hold the homecourt advantage for the divisional playoffs. Additionally, the team with the league's best regular-season record will hold the advantage for the entire playoffs, including the MPBL Finals. For the first three rounds of the playoffs, the team with the homecourt advantage will host Games 1 and 3 (if necessary). For the Finals, the team with the better regular season record will hold the homecourt advantage and will host Games 1, 2, and 5 (if necessary) on its homecourt.

Playoff qualifying[]

On January 7, 2019, the Manila Stars clinched the first berth for the playoffs, the earliest team who secured a playoff berth.

Northern Division[]

Seed	Team	Record	Clinched
			Playoff berth	Best record in division	Best record in league
1	Bataan Risers	23–2	January 17	February 28	February 28
2	Makati Super Crunch	21–4	January 7	—	—
3	San Juan Knights	20–5	January 12	—	—
4	Manila Stars	20–5	January 8	—	—
5	Bulacan Kuyas	14–11	February 2	—	—
6	Navotas Clutch	13–12		—	—
7	Quezon City Capitals	12–13		—	—
8	Caloocan Supremos	11–14		—	—

Southern Division[]

Seed	Team	Record	Clinched
			Playoff berth	Best record in division	Best record in league
1	Davao Occidental Tigers	20–5	January 26	February 9	—
2	Batangas City Athletics	15–10	February 8	—	—
3	Muntinlupa Cagers	15–10	January 31	—	—
4	General Santos Warriors	14–11	March 4	—	—
5	Bacoor Strikers	13–12	February 27	—	—
6	Zamboanga Valientes	12–13	March 5	—	—
7	Imus Bandera	11–14	March 9	—	—
8	Cebu City Sharks	11–14	March 9	—	—

Bracket[]

Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its division, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. Teams with home court advantage, the higher seeded team, are shown in italics.

First Round (Best-of-3)

Divisional Semifinals (Best-of-3)

Divisional Finals (Best-of-3)

MPBL Finals (Best-of-5)

N1

Bataan

2

N8

Caloocan

0

N1

Bataan

1

N4

Manila

2

N4

Manila

2

N5

Bulacan

0

N4

Manila

1

Northern Division

N3

San Juan

2

N2

Makati

0

N7

Quezon City

2

N7

Quezon City

0

N3

San Juan

2

N3

San Juan

2

N6

Navotas

0

N3

San Juan

3

S1

Davao Occidental

2

S1

Davao Occidental

2

S8

Cebu City

0

S1

Davao Occidental

2

S5

Bacoor City

0

S4

General Santos

0

S5

Bacoor City

2

S1

Davao Occidental

2

Southern Division

S2

Batangas City

1

S2

Batangas City

2

S7

Imus

1

S2

Batangas City

2

S6

Zamboanga

1

S3

Muntinlupa

1

S6

Zamboanga

2

First round[]

Northern Division[]

(N1) Bataan Risers vs. (N8) Caloocan Supremos[]

Head-to-head matchup
S+A November 27 07:00 pm Boxscore Caloocan Supremos 81–94 Bataan Risers Scoring by quarter: 15–27, 11–20, 28–20, 27–27 Pts: Vosotros 16 Rebs: Mark Sarangay 10 Asts: Vosotros 11 Pts: Raymundo 20 Rebs: Alfred Batino 7 Asts: , Raymundo 6 each Batangas City Coliseum, Batangas City

This is the first playoff meeting between the Bataan Risers and the Caloocan Supremos.

(N2) Makati Super Crunch vs. (N7) Quezon City Capitals[]

Head-to-head matchup
S+A February 25 07:00 pm Boxscore Quezon City Capitals 78–102 Makati Super Crunch Scoring by quarter: 20–16, 18–31, 17–30, 23–25 Pts: Jay Collado 15 Rebs: Ramon Mabayo 7 Asts: Hesed Gabo 6 Pts: John Rey Villanueva 20 Rebs: John Rey Villanueva 8 Asts: Lingganay, Apinan 4 each Filoil Flying V Centre, San Juan

This is the first playoff meeting between the Makati and the Quezon City.

(N3) San Juan Knights vs. (N6) Navotas Clutch[]

Head-to-head matchup
S+A September 25 07:00 pm Boxscore Navotas Clutch 74–81 San Juan Knights Scoring by quarter: 17–10, 19–22, 25–18, 13–31 Pts: Kris Porter 18 Rebs: , 6 each Asts: Joe Trinidad 3 Pts: Wilson 28 Rebs: Wilson Asts: Rodriguez, 4 each Strike Gymnasium, Bacoor, Cavite

This is the first playoff meeting between the San Juan Knights and the Navotas Clutch.

(N4) Manila Stars vs. (N5) Bulacan Kuyas[]

Head-to-head matchup
S+A August 16 09:00 pm Boxscore Manila Stars 84–62 Bulacan Kuyas Scoring by quarter: 26–4, 20–20, 20–19, 18–19 Pts: Cervantes 19 Rebs: Maclean Sabellina 11 Asts: Roger Yap 8 Pts: Hernal Escosio 12 Rebs: , 5 each Asts: JR Taganas 8 San Andres Sports Complex, Malate, Manila

This is the first playoff meeting between Kuyas and Stars.

Southern Division[]

(S1) Davao Occidental Tigers vs. (S8) Cebu City Sharks[]

Head-to-head matchup
S+A August 14 07:00 pm Boxscore Cebu City Sharks 64–71 Davao Occidental Tigers Scoring by quarter: 17–13, 19–18, 16–21, 12–19 Pts: 14 Rebs: Cesar Catli 11 Asts: John Michael Abad 6 Pts: Billy Robles 14 Rebs: Yee 11 Asts: Custodio 4 Strike Gymnasium, Bacoor, Cavite

This is the first playoff meeting between the Davao Occidental Tigers and Cebu City Sharks.

(S2) Batangas City Athletics vs. (S7) Imus Bandera[]

Head-to-head matchup
S+A January 15 09:00 pm Boxscore Batangas City Athletics 96–93 Imus Bandera Scoring by quarter: 27–22, 27–18, 22–29, 20–24 Pts: Jeff Viernes 19 Rebs: Jhaymo Eguilos 10 Asts: Alvarez 7 Pts: Jonathan Rivera 23 Rebs: Jonathan Rivera 10 Asts: , 4 each Batangas State University Gymnasium, Batangas City

This is the first playoff meeting between the Batangas City Athletics and the Imus Bandera.

(S3) Muntinlupa Cagers vs. (S6) Zamboanga Valientes[]

Allan Mangahas who earned 17 assists in the game, broke the previous record of 15 assists previously held jointly by Mikee Reyes and Bobby Ray Parks Jr. to become the league's newest record holder for most assists made in a single game.^[3]

Head-to-head matchup
S+A July 4 07:00 pm Boxscore Zamboanga Valientes 69–85 Muntinlupa Cagers Scoring by quarter: 16–23, 11–23, 20–17, 22–22 Pts: , 10 each Rebs: Rino Berame 11 Asts: Reed Juntilla 3 Pts: Allan Mangahas 18 Rebs: Felix Apreku 12 Asts: Allan Mangahas 9 Marist School Gymnasium, Marikina

This is the first playoff meeting between the Muntinlupa Cagers and the Zamboanga Valientes.

(S4) General Santos Warriors vs. (S5) Bacoor City Strikers[]

Head-to-head matchup
S+A March 4 09:00 pm Boxscore Bacoor City Strikers 71–82 General Santos Warriors Scoring by quarter: 19–22, 21–20, 15–19, 16–21 Pts: King Destacamento 16 Rebs: Gabriel Banal 14 Asts: Rocky Acidre 7 Pts: John Orbeta 23 Rebs: John Orbeta 11 Asts: Leomer Losentes 5 Strike Gymnasium, Bacoor, Cavite

This is the first playoff meeting between Bacoor City Strikers and the General Santos Warriors.

Divisional semifinals[]

Northern Division Semifinals[]

(N1) Bataan Risers vs. (N4) Manila Stars[]

Head-to-head matchup
S+A June 16, 2018 09:00 pm Boxscore Manila Stars 89–82 Bataan Risers Scoring by quarter: 19–20, 23–22, 27–22, 20–18 Pts: Aris Dionisio 21 Rebs: Aris Dionisio 7 Asts: Roger Yap 11 Pts: John Villarias 17 Rebs: Alfred Batino 14 Asts: Raymundo 4 San Andres Sports Complex, Malate, Manila

This is the first playoff meeting between the Manila Stars and the Bataan Risers.

(S7) Quezon City Capitals vs. (S3) San Juan Knights[]

Head-to-head matchup
S+A February 11 09:00 pm Boxscore San Juan Knights 68–50 Quezon City Capitals Scoring by quarter: 17–13, 19–8, 14–10, 18–19 Pts: Wilson 13 Rebs: Larry Muyang 9 Asts: CJ Isit 5 Pts: Kim Medina 11 Rebs: Ramon Mabayo 11 Asts: Jomar Santos 4 Filoil Flying V Centre, San Juan

This is the first playoff meeting between San Juan Knights and Quezon City Capitals.

Southern Division Semifinals[]

(S1) Davao Occidental Tigers vs. (S5) Bacoor City Strikers[]

Head-to-head matchup
S+A December 13 09:00 pm Boxscore Bacoor City Strikers 50–69 Davao Occidental Tigers Scoring by quarter: 16–23, 8–10, 13–18, 13–18 Pts: Gabriel Banal 11 Rebs: Leo de Vera 7 Asts: 5 players tied at 2 each Pts: Yee 17 Rebs: Yee 11 Asts: Yee, Custodio 5 each Strike Gymnasium, Bacoor, Cavite

This is the first playoff meeting between the Bacoor City Strikers and the Davao Occidental Tigers.

(S2) Batangas City Athletics vs. (S6) Zamboanga Valientes[]

Head-to-head matchup
S+A November 27, 2018 09:00 pm Boxscore Batangas City Athletics 104–93 Zamboanga Valientes Scoring by quarter: 33–25, 18–20, 28–21, 25–27 Pts: Jeff Viernes 26 Rebs: Villamor, Viernes 8 each Asts: Jeff Viernes 11 Pts: Juntilla 18 Rebs: Berame, de Leon 6 each Asts: Joemari Lacastesantos 7 Batangas City Coliseum, Batangas City

This is the first playoff meeting between the Zamboanga Valientes and the Batangas City Athletics.

Divisional finals[]

Northern Division Finals: (N4) Manila Stars vs. (N3) San Juan Knights[]

Head-to-head matchup
S+A Fox Sports November 21 09:00pm Manila Stars 80–84 (OT) San Juan Knights Scoring by quarter: –, –, –, – Filoil Flying V Centre, San Juan

This is the first playoff meeting between the Manila Stars and the San Juan Knights.

Southern Division Finals: (S1) Davao Occidental Tigers vs. (S2) Batangas City Athletics[]

Head-to-head matchup
S+A Fox Sports February 9 09:00 pm Davao Occidental Tigers 71–70 Batangas City Athletics Scoring by quarter: 19–19, 31–39, 55–56, 70–71 Batangas City Coliseum

This is the first playoff meeting between Davao Occidental Tigers and Batangas City Athletics.

MPBL Finals: (N3) San Juan Knights vs. (S1) Davao Occidental Tigers[]

The San Juan Knights and the Davao Occidental Tigers will battle for the national championship to become the first ever Datu Cup Champion and the second MPBL Champions.

References[]