The fate of 6 teams and their shot at landing a spot in the top 4 and grabbing a twice-to-beat advantage boils down to the last two games of the elimination round of the PBA Governors' Cup on Sunday.

Grand Slam-seeking San Miguel Beer (7-3) will tackle league-leading Meralco (8-2) at 6:45 p.m., which comes after the equally crucial Star-NLEX tussle at 4:30 p.m. at Araneta Coliseum.

If Meralco and NLEX (7-3) win, they will join early qualifier TNT in the top 4 for the twice-to-beat bonus. In this scenario, Barangay Ginebra will also gain a berth.

If San Miguel and Star (6-4) win, the Beermen will tie Meralco, TNT and Ginebra with identical 8-3 records, awarding them top-4 tickets.

Any scenario besides those will require a tiebreaker to determine both halves of the quarterfinal bracket.

Only TNT is safely through to the top 4.

After a shaky start to the conference, San Miguel, needing one more championship to complete the Triple Crown, has won 4 straight games, including its streak-busting win over Ginebra and a close shave against winless Kia.

The Beermen face a Meralco crew, riding a 3-game winning streak, that's just as hot since acquiring Ranidel de Ocampo via trade from TNT.

NLEX will enter Sunday's game having played just once in the last 21 days.

In their last outing, coach Yeng Guiao's Road Warriors lost to TNT.

From whipping boys in the first two conferences, NLEX has emerged as a force in this tournament. Playing for a purpose and achieving it — that of finishing in the top 4 — will be another feather in the Road Warriors' cap.

"I believe we are very close to breaking out as a contender in this league. Beating Star takes us a step closer to that objective," Guiao said in an article posted on the PBA website.

"Must win for us. No win, no twice-to-beat.

Like Rain Or Shine, Star needs very specific outcomes and some math to work in their favor to place in the top 4.

Coach Chito Victolero's team looks determined to set aside its so-so campaign so far if the Hotshots' 128-81 beatdown of Kia is any indication.

"Kung manalo kami (against NLEX), that's the time we'll try to compute kung ano mangyayari sa amin," stated Victolero. "The only thing we can do is prepare hard to win. The important thing is to get the 'W' on Sunday."

Blackwater is fastened to the 8th seed, while Alaska, GlobalPort, Alaska and Kia are eliminated.

(For more sports coverage, visit the ABS-CBN Sports website.)