2020–21 MPBL playoffs

2020–21 MPBL playoffs

MPBL Lakan Cup Playoffs
Tournament details
Country	Basilan Steel
Tournament statistics
Matches played	35 (1 defaulted)
← 2019 2022  →

The 2020–21 MPBL playoffs, originally billed as the 2020 MPBL playoffs and also known as the MPBL Lakan Cup Playoffs, was the postseason tournament of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's 2019–20 season, the league's third overall, and the second under the 16-team format. The postseason tournament began on February 15, 2020 and concluded on March 21, 2021, after the fourth game of the 2021 MPBL Finals. The league suspended all the playoffs due to the COVID-19 outbreak in March 12, 2020.^[1] After a year of stoppage of play, the league got an approval from the IATF-EID and resumed the playoffs on March 10, 2021, inside a bubble hosted by Subic.^[2][3]

The 2021 MPBL Finals saw the Northern Division champions San Juan Knights competed against the Southern Division champion Davao Occidental Tigers. The Tigers eventually won the championship after beating the Knights in four games, avenging their last season's finals loss in 2019. Mark Yee was named the Finals MVP for that finals series.^[4]

Overview

Updates to playoff appearances

• The San Juan Knights entered the playoffs for the second consecutive season and clinched the best record in the league for the first time in team history.
• The Davao Occidental Tigers entered the playoffs for the second consecutive season and clinched the best record in the South Division for the second consecutive season.
• The
  Batangas City Athletics, and Bulacan Kuyas
  entered the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
• The
  Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines
  entered the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
• The
  Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors
  entered the playoffs for the first time in team history.
• The
  Quezon City Capitals
  missed the playoffs for the first time since entering the league and making the playoffs since then.

Division Semifinals

• Davao Occidental beat Zamboanga in game 1 with a score of 47–28. At just 75 points, it is the least combined points scored by both teams in a single game.
  • Zamboanga's 28 points is also least points scored by a team in a single game.[5]
• After the first half, the score was 19–11, the 30 combined points is also the least combined points scored by both teams in a single half.^[5]

Format

The top eight teams from each division advanced to the playoffs. Seeding was based on winning percentage, with tiebreaker rules applied should multiple teams have the same record. The single-elimination bracket consists of four rounds with no reseeding. The first three rounds were

series.

During the first two rounds, two games within the same division were played in a gameday, with

alternating between the higher-seeded teams of each series. A traditional homecourt format was then used for the last two rounds, with the Division Finals using a 1-1-1 format and the National Finals using a 2-2-1 format. The designated home team may not be able to play within its home locality. Should it occur, the gameday may take place elsewhere.

Division standings

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)

Division Semifinals (Best-of-3)

Division Finals (Best-of-3)

National Finals (Best-of-5)

N1

San Juan

2

N8

Pasay

0

N1

San Juan

2

N4

Pampanga

0

N4

Pampanga

2

N5

Bataan

0

N1

San Juan

2

North Division

N3

Makati

1

N2

Manila

2

N7

Pasig

0

N2

Manila

1

N3

Makati

2

N3

Makati

2

N6

Bulacan

0

N1

San Juan

1

S1

Davao Occidental

3

S1

Davao Occidental

2

S8

Bicol

1

S1

Davao Occidental

2

S5

Zamboanga

0

S4

Batangas City

1

S5

Zamboanga

2

S1

Davao Occidental

2

South Division

S3

Basilan

1

S2

Bacoor City

2

S7

General Santos

0

S2

Bacoor City

1

S3

Basilan

2

S3

Basilan

2

S6

Iloilo

0

First round

Northern Division

(1) San Juan Knights vs. (8) Pasay Voyagers

This is the first playoff meeting between the Knights and the Voyagers.

(2) Manila Stars vs. (7) Pasig Sta. Lucia Realtors

This is the first playoff meeting between the Stars and the Realtors.

(3) Makati Super Crunch vs. (6) Bulacan Kuyas

This is the first playoff meeting between the Kuyas and the Super Crunch.

(4) Pampanga Giant Lanterns vs. (5) Bataan Risers

This is the first playoff meeting between the Giant Lanterns and the Risers.

Southern Division

(1) Davao Occidental Tigers vs. (8) Bicol Volcanoes

This is the first playoff meeting between the Tigers and the Volcanoes.

(2) Bacoor City Strikers vs. (7) GenSan Warriors

Head-to-head matchup
iWant January 20 8:30 pm Boxscore Bacoor City Strikers 87–75 GenSan Warriors Scoring by quarter: 16–18, 22–7, 19–29, 30–21 Pts: Michael Mabulac 17 Rebs: Michael Mabulac 10 Asts : Gabriel Banal 11 Pts: Mikey Williams 17 Rebs: Robby Celiz 9 Asts: Pamboy Raymundo 8 Strike Gymnasium, Bacoor, Cavite

This is the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Strikers winning the first one.

Previous playoffs series

Bacoor leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series
2019 GenSan Warriors 0 2019 Southern Division First Round

(3) Basilan Steel vs. (6) Iloilo United Royals

This is the first playoff meeting between the Steel and United Royals.

(4) Batangas City Athletics vs. (5) Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines

This is the second playoff meeting between these two teams, with the Athletics winning the first one.

Previous playoffs series

Batangas City leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series
2019 Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines 1 2019 Southern Division Semifinals

Division Semifinals

Northern Division

(1) San Juan Knights vs. (4) Pampanga Giant Lanterns

This is the first playoff meeting between the Knights and Lanterns.

(2) Manila Stars vs. (3) Makati Super Crunch

This is the first playoff meeting between the Stars and the Super Crunch.

Southern Division

(1) Davao Occidental Tigers vs. (5) Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines

This is the first playoff meeting between the Tigers and the Valientes.

(2) Bacoor City Strikers vs. (3) Basilan Steel

This is the first playoff meeting between the Steel and the Strikers.

Division Finals

North Division Finals

(1) San Juan Knights vs. (3) Makati Super Crunch

Game 3 of the North Division Finals was heavily affected in the San Juan Knights' favor as the Makati Super Crunch entered this game with only a five-man roster. Financial troubles amid the COVID-19 pandemic caused key players of the Makati side to not play for the team in the crucial do-or-die game.

South Division Finals

(1) Davao Occidental Tigers vs. (3) Basilan Steel

This game was originally going to be postponed after a player from the Basilan Steel tested positive from COVID-19.^[7] The league decided that should another member of the Basilan delegation test positive, the game would be defaulted and Davao Occidental would win the series and the division title.^[8] On March 16, the league announced that an additional two members of the Basilan delegation were also tested positive from the virus. As a result, the game, the series, and the division title were all awarded in favor of Davao Occidental by default. As per FIBA rules, the game was ruled as a 2–0 victory for Davao Occidental.^[9]

2021 MPBL Finals: (N1) San Juan Knights vs. (S1) Davao Occidental Tigers

The San Juan Knights and the Davao Occidental Tigers competed in the MPBL Finals to determine the third MPBL Champions. This was the first championship series to be held entirely inside a bubble, hosted by Subic. The series was a rematch of the last season's finals between both teams, with San Juan winning last year's championship in five games. The Tigers avenged their last season's finals loss against the Knights, defeating them in four games to win the title.

This is the second finals meeting between the Knights and the Tigers, with the Knights winning the first one.

Previous playoffs series

San Juan leads 1–0 in all-time playoff series
2019 San Juan Knights 3, Davao Occidental Tigers 2 2019 MPBL Finals

Broadcast notes

As part of the broadcast deal, ABS-CBN held the broadcast rights for the entire playoff series. Prior to the suspension, all games were split between the network's sports channels,

.

Notes

References