2022 MPBL playoffs

2022 MPBL playoffs
2022 OKBet-MPBL Playoffs presented by Xtreme Appliances
Tournament details
Country	Philippines
Dates	October 15 – December 12, 2022
Teams	16
Defending champions	Davao Occidental Tigers ; (Did not participate in the season)
Final positions
Champions	Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards
Runner-up	Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines
Semifinalists	San Juan Knights; Batangas City Embassy Chill;
Tournament statistics
Matches played	36
	← 2020–21 2023 →

The 2022 MPBL playoffs was the postseason tournament of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's 2022 season, the league's fourth overall, and the third under the 16-team format. The postseason tournament began on October 15, 2022, two days after the end of the regular season on October 13, 2022, and concluded on December 12, 2022, following the conclusion of the 2022 MPBL finals.^[1]

The finals saw North Division champions Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards face against South Division champions Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines. Nueva Ecija beat Zamboanga in four games to win the championship series. Byron Villarias was crowned MPBL Finals MVP.

For sponsorship reasons, this playoff series was also known as the 2022 OKBet-MPBL Playoffs presented by Xtreme Appliances.

Overview

The Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards entered the playoffs for the first time in franchise history and also clinched the best record in the league for the first time.
The Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines entered the playoffs for the third consecutive season and clinched the best record in the South Division for the first time.
The Bataan Risers and Batangas City Embassy Chill entered the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, tied for the longest playoff streak in the MPBL at the time.
The Bacoor City Strikers, GenSan Warriors, and San Juan Knights entered the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
The Pampanga Giant Lanterns and Pasig City MCW Sports entered the playoffs for the second consecutive season.
The Bacolod Bingo Plus, Marikina Shoemasters, Rizal Golden Coolers, and Sarangani Marlins entered the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.
The Muntinlupa Cagers and Quezon City MG entered the playoffs for the first time since 2019.
The Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc. entered the playoffs for the first time since 2018.
The Makati × MNL Kingpin and Manila Stars missed the playoffs for the first time in their franchises' history, both having made the postseason since 2019.
Due to their departures from the league:
- Bicol, Bulacan, Davao Occidental, and Iloilo also missed the playoffs for the first time their franchises' history. Bicol and Iloilo made the postseason last season, while Bulacan and Davao Occidental made the playoffs since 2018 and 2019, respectively.
- Basilan and Pasay also missed the playoffs after making the postseason last season.
The Laguna Heroes missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season, which was the longest playoff drought in the MPBL at the time.
- Including non-playing seasons, Parañaque also missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season, tying Laguna's playoff drought.

Format

The top eight teams from each division advanced to the playoffs. Seeding was changed in this season, in that teams are seeded by wins and not winning percentage. Tiebreaker rules were applied with teams that have the same record. The single-elimination bracket consisted of four rounds with no reseeding. The first three rounds were best-of-three series and the national finals was a best-of-five series.

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

North Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	GB	Qualification
1	Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards	21	21	0	—	Playoffs
2	Pasig City MCW Sports	21	14^[a]	7	7
3	San Juan Knights	21	14^[a]	7	7
4	Pampanga Giant Lanterns	21	14^[a]	7	7
5	Bataan Risers	21	13	8	8
6	Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc.	21	10	11	11
7	Quezon City MG	21	9	12	12
8	Marikina Shoemasters	21	8	13	13

Source: Standings
Notes:

^ ^a ^b ^c Pasig (1.193), San Juan (0.993), and Pampanga (0.850) are ranked based on head-to-head point quotient.

South Division

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	L	GB	Qualification
1	Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines	21	18	3	—	Playoffs
2	Batangas City Embassy Chill	21	17	4	1
3	Sarangani Marlins	21	16	5	2
4	GenSan Warriors	21	15	6	3
5	Bacolod Bingo Plus	21	14	7	4
6	Rizal Golden Coolers	21	10	11	8
7	Bacoor City Strikers	21	9	12	9
8	Muntinlupa Cagers	21	6	15	12

Source: 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

Nueva Ecija

2

N8

Marikina

0

N1

Nueva Ecija

2

N4

Pampanga

0

N4

Pampanga

2

N5

Bataan

1

N1

Nueva Ecija

2

North Division

N3

San Juan

1

N2

Pasig

2

N7

Quezon City

0

N2

Pasig

0

N3

San Juan

2

N3

San Juan

2

N6

Valenzuela

0

N1

Nueva Ecija

3

S1

Zamboanga

1

S1

Zamboanga

2

S8

Muntinlupa

0

S1

Zamboanga

2

S5

Bacolod

1

S4

General Santos

1

S5

Bacolod

2

S1

Zamboanga

2

South Division

S2

Batangas City

1

S2

Batangas City

2

S7

Bacoor City

1

S2

Batangas City

2

S6

Rizal

0

S3

Sarangani

0

S6

Rizal

2

First round

Northern Division

(1) Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards vs. (8) Marikina Shoemasters

One PH
One Sports+

October 15
09:00 pm

Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards	103–71	Marikina Shoemasters
Scoring by quarter: 27–17, 16–11, 30–20, 30–23
Pts: Renz Palma 16 Rebs: Michael Mabulac, William McAloney 7 Asts: Hesed Gabo 8		Pts: three players 13 Rebs: Normer Gonzales 11 Asts: Jexter Tolentino 4

Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards	82–71	Marikina Shoemasters
Scoring by quarter: 23–21, 14–19, 32–9, 13–22
Pts: William McAloney 19 Rebs: Jay Collado 12 Asts: Hesed Gabo 6		Pts: Jason Opiso 18 Rebs: Mark Atabay 12 Asts: Mark Atabay 5
Nueva Ecija wins series, 2–0

Pasig City MCW Sports	84–80 (OT)	Quezon City MG
Scoring by quarter: 21–19, 18–22, 24–16, 15–21, Overtime: 6–2
Pts: Carlo Lastimosa 19 Rebs: Jason Melano 15 Asts: Ryan Costelo 6		Pts: Levi dela Cruz 18 Rebs: Levi dela Cruz 10 Asts: Marcy Arellano 9

Pasig City MCW Sports	101–83	Quezon City MG
Scoring by quarter: 22–13, 25–21, 18–28, 36–21
Pts: Carlo Lastimosa 24 Rebs: Jason Ballesteros 13 Asts: Jason Melano, Robbie Manalang 5		Pts: Kentoy Segura 20 Rebs: Jerick Nacpil 10 Asts: Marcy Arellano 14
Pasig wins series, 2–0

Overview

Format

Division standings

Bracket

First round

Northern Division

(1) Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards vs. (8) Marikina Shoemasters

(2) Pasig City MCW Sports vs. (8) Quezon City MG

(3) San Juan Knights vs. (8) Valenzuela XUR Homes Realty Inc.

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

Southern Division

(1) Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines vs. (8) Muntinlupa Cagers

(2) Batangas City Embassy Chill vs. (7) Bacoor City Strikers

(3) Sarangani Marlins vs. (6) Rizal EMKAI Xentromall

(4) GenSan Warriors vs. (5) Bacolod Bingo Plus

Division semifinals

Northern Division

(1) Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards vs. (4) Pampanga Giant Lanterns

(2) Pasig City MCW Sports vs. (3) San Juan Knights

Southern Division

(1) Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines vs. (5) Bacolod Bingo Plus

(2) Batangas City Embassy Chill vs. (6) Rizal Golden Coolers Xentromall

Division finals

Northern Division

(1) Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards vs. (3) San Juan Knights

Southern Division

(1) Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines vs. (2) Batangas City Embassy Chill

2022 MPBL finals: (N1) Nueva Ecija Rice Vanguards vs. (S1) Zamboanga Family's Brand Sardines

References