Tigers did not have any draft pick, as Magnolia Beverage Masters, Air21 Express, and Sta. Lucia Realtors owned the team's draft picks because of trades.
Coca-Cola and Talk 'N Text met in the first wildcard round, with the two teams making a mid-season trade, with Asi Taulava going to the Tigers while Ali Peek and draft picks going to the Phone Pals. Coke, which had previously denied the Phone Pals of a playoff for the last quarterfinal berth by winning their last elimination round game 2 days earlier, started out strong; the Phone Pals failed to answer to the challenge as they were beaten by the #9 seeds.[10]
Air21 on the other hand faced defending champions Barangay Ginebra Kings, which were decimated by injuries to Billy Mamaril, Mark Caguioa and personal commitments by Rudy Hatfield (Hatfield didn't return) early in the season caused several losses and they had to settle for a wildcard berth. Behind the shooting of team captain Wynne Arboleda, Air21 raced to an early lead. Ginebra cut down the deficit, but while Caguioa was on a fastbreak attempt, Niño Canaleta blocked his shot that virtually ended Ginebra's title defense.[11]
On the final wildcard game, Arboleda wasn't able to sustain his shooting as Taulava and Mark Telan had career games to advance to the quarterfinals to face the Alaska Aces.[12]
Quarterfinals
(3) Alaska vs. (9) Coca-Cola
Elimination round games: Alaska won both games, 117-106 and 98-94.
Alaska ended Coca-Cola's run as the worst-seeded wildcard winner as they were eliminated by the #3 seed. Reigning Most Valuable PlayerWillie Miller made short work of the Tigers backcourt as Sonny Thoss overran the potent Coke frontcourt by converting outside shots.
