During the first two rounds, two games within the same division are played in a gameday, with homecourt advantage alternating between the higher-seeded teams of each series.
This series marked the third meeting of coaches Don Dulay (Makati) and Randy Alcantara (San Juan).
During the second overtime period, San Juan went on a 7–1 scoring run culminating in a three-point field goal by Wamar as the Knights led by 5 heading into the final minute.
Calo cut the lead to three with two free throws, and then Cullar attempted a three-pointer to potentially cause triple overtime, but the ball went in and out of the rim.
San Juan kept the ball in possession for the remaining seconds as the Knights advance to their fourth consecutive division semifinals appearance.
With the game tied at 69–69, Gabby Espinas hit the mid-range jumper on Jason Ballesteros to give Caloocan the lead with 0.7 seconds left on the clock.
Following two timeouts from Pasig City, Kenny Rocacurva gave the inbound pass to Ryan Costelo, who failed to score a potential game-tying field goal.
Bacoor City had no timeouts left as Chito Jaime attempted a half-court shot that hit the right side of the backboard, giving Iloilo the upset victory.
After two made free throws from Ablaza, Joson missed his three pointer resulting in Batangas City winning the game and the series, thus making back-to-back division finals appearances.
Pampanga, however, didn't stand back, as they would start the quarter with a 16–1 scoring run to take the lead with just over three minutes left, with eight of those points coming from Encho Serrano.
Encho Serrano won Player of the Game honors as the Giant Lanterns remain undefeated in the playoffs and went on to advance to their very first MPBL finals appearance.