The 2018 MPBL playoffs, also known as the MPBL Anta–Rajah Cup playoffs, was the postseason tournament of the

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League The Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) is a men's professional basketball league in the Philippines. History Manny Pacquiao launched the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League on August 29, 2017, starting off as a semi-professional lea ...

's inaugural 2018 season. This was the league's first postseason tournament, and the only tournament under the eight-team format. It began on March 20, 2018, three days after the regular season, and ended on April 10, 2018 where the

Batangas City Athletics The Batangas City Embassy Chill is a professional basketball team currently competing in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) and the Filbasket. The team traces its roots to the original Tanduay Rhum Masters that played in the Philip ...

beat the

Muntinlupa Cagers The 1Munti Emeralds are a professional basketball team based in Muntinlupa, Philippines. Team competes in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL), the Pilipinas Super League, and formerly competed in the Filbasket. The team plays its hom ...

in the

2018 MPBL Finals The 2018 MPBL Finals, also known as the 2018 MPBL Anta-Rajah Cup Finals, was the championship series of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's (MPBL) inaugural 2018 MPBL season, 2018 season and the conclusion of the 2018 MPBL playoffs, seas ...

Overview

* The

entered the playoffs for the first time in team history and clinched the best record in the league for the first time. * All other qualified teams entered the playoffs for the first time.

Format

The top eight teams overall 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 three rounds with no reseeding. The first two rounds were

best-of-three There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

series and the Finals was a

best-of-five There are a number of formats used in various levels of competition in sports and games to determine an overall champion. Some of the most common are the ''single elimination'', the ''best-of-'' series, the ''total points series'' more commonly kn ...

series. During the first two rounds, two games were played in a gameday, with

homecourt advantage In team sports, the term home advantage – also called home ground, home field, home-field advantage, home court, home-court advantage, defender's advantage or home-ice advantage – describes the benefit that the home team is said to gai ...

alternating between the higher-seeded teams of each series. A traditional homecourt format was then used for the National Finals using a 2-2-1 format.

Standings

Bracket

Quarter-finals

(1) Batangas City Athletics vs. (8) Bataan Defenders

(2) Bulacan Kuyas vs. (7) Parañaque Patriots

(3) Muntinlupa Cagers vs. (6) Navotas Clutch

(4) Valenzuela Classic vs. (5) Quezon City Capitals

Semi-finals

(1) Batangas City Athletics vs. (4) Valenzuela Classic

(3) Muntinlupa Cagers vs. (7) Parañaque Patriots

MPBL Finals: (1) Batangas City Athletics vs. (3) Muntinlupa Cagers

Media

All playoff games this season were aired on

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

's S+A channel as part of its broadcast rights with the league.

References

{{2018 MPBL season by team

Playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League playoffs 2018 in Philippine sport