1997 PBA Commissioner's Cup

Second conference of the 1997 PBA season

1997 PBA Commissioner's Cup
Duration	June 13 – September 7, 1997
TV partner(s)	VTV (IBC)
Finals
Champions	Gordon's Gin Boars
Runners-up	Alaska Milkmen
Awards
Best Player	Johnny Abarrientos (Alaska Milkmen)
Best Import	Jeff Ward (San Miguel Beermen)
Finals MVP	Marlou Aquino (Gordon's Gin Boars)
PBA Commissioner's Cup chronology
< 1996 1998 >
PBA conference chronology
< 1997 All-Filipino 1997 Governors' >

The 1997 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner's Cup was the second conference of the 1997 PBA season. It started on June 13 and ended on September 7, 1997. The tournament is an Import-laden format, which requires an import or a pure-foreign player for each team with a 6'8" height limit.

Format

The following format will be observed for the duration of the conference:

The teams were divided into 2 groups.

Group A:

Group B:

Teams in a group will play against each other twice and against teams in the other group once; 10 games per team; Teams are then seeded by basis on win–loss records. Ties are broken among point differentials of the tied teams. Standings will be determined in one league table; teams do not qualify by basis of groupings.
The top five teams after the eliminations will advance to the semifinals.^[1]
Semifinals will be two round robin affairs with the remaining five teams. Results from the eliminations will be carried over. A playoff incentive for a finals berth will be given to the team that will win at least five of their eight semifinal games.
The top two teams (or the top team and the winner of the playoff incentive) will face each other in a best-of-seven championship series. The next two teams (or the loser of the playoff incentive and the fourth seeded team) dispute the third-place trophy in a one-game playoff.

Elimination round

Team standings

Pos	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Gordon's Gin Boars	6	4	.600	—	Advance to semifinals
2	San Miguel Beermen	6	4	.600	—
3	Formula Shell Zoom Masters	6	4	.600	—
4	Sta. Lucia Realtors	6	4	.600	—
5	Alaska Milkmen	5	5	.500	1
6	Mobiline Cellulars	4	6	.400	2
7	Pop Cola Bottlers	4	6	.400	2
8	Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys	3	7	.300	3

Source:^{[citation needed]}

Semifinals

Team standings

Cumulative standings

Pos	Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Qualification
1	Alaska Milkmen	11	7	.611^[a]	—	Advance to the Finals^[b]
2	Gordon's Gin Boars	11	7	.611^[a]	—	Guaranteed Finals berth playoff
3	San Miguel Beermen	11	7	.611^[a]	—	Qualify to Finals berth playoff
4	Sta. Lucia Realtors	8	10	.444^[c]	3	Proceed to third-place playoff
5	Formula Shell Zoom Masters	8	10	.444^[c]	3

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ ^a ^b ^c Head-to-head quotient: Alaska 1.041. Gordon's 0.994, San Miguel 0.945^[2]
^ If a team outside the top two teams wins at least five semifinal round games, then it and the second-placed team will playoff for the last Finals berth; otherwise, the top 2 teams qualify outright.
^ ^a ^b Head-to-head record: Sta. Lucia 2–1 Shell

Semifinal round standings:

Pos	Team	W	L	Qualification
1	Alaska Milkmen	6	2
2	Gordon's Gin Boars	5	3
3	San Miguel Beermen	5	3	Qualify to Finals berth playoff^[a]
4	Sta. Lucia Realtors	2	6
5	Formula Shell Zoom Masters	2	6

Source:^{[citation needed]}
Notes:

^ Alaska qualified outright as #1 seeded team, Gordon's Gin guaranteed finals berth playoff as #2 seeded team; Finals berth playoff: Gordon's Gin 106–100 San Miguel (2OT)

Finals berth playoff

VTV

August 24
6:00 pm

San Miguel Beermen 100, Gordon's Gin Boars 106 (2OT)
Scoring by quarter: 20–16, 14–22, 22–17, 24–25, Overtime: 14–14, 6–12
Pts: Jeff Ward 29 Rebs: Jeff Ward 14 Asts: Olsen Racela 7		Pts: Chris King 36 Rebs: Chris King 17 Asts: Chris King 6