1997 PBA Commissioner's Cup

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.

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' >

Format

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

• The teams were divided into 2 groups.

Group A: Formula Shell Zoom Masters Mobiline Cellulars Purefoods Corned Beef Cowboys San Miguel Beermen

Group B: Alaska Milkmen Gordon's Gin Boars Pop Cola Bottlers Sta. Lucia Realtors

• 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	—	Semifinal round
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]}

Semifinal round

Team standings

Overall 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: 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. 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

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

Third place playoff

VTV

August 26

San Miguel Beermen 96, Sta. Lucia Realtors 95

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

Finals

Main article: 1997 PBA Commissioner's Cup finals

VTV

August 26

Alaska Milkmen 89, Gordon's Gin Boars 99

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

VTV

August 29

Alaska Milkmen 96, Gordon's Gin Boars 102

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

VTV

August 31

Alaska Milkmen 86, Gordon's Gin Boars 87

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

VTV

September 2

Alaska Milkmen 108, Gordon's Gin Boars 90

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay

VTV

September 5

Alaska Milkmen 86, Gordon's Gin Boars 81

Araneta Coliseum, Quezon City

VTV

September 7

Alaska Milkmen 79, Gordon's Gin Boars 105

Gordon's Gin wins series, 4–2

Cuneta Astrodome, Pasay