The 1997Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner's Cup was the second conference of the 1997 PBA season. It started on June 13 and ended on September 7, 1997. The tournament is an import-laden format, which requires an import or a pure-foreign player for each team with a 6'8" height limit.
Format
The following format will be observed for the duration of the conference:
Teams in a group will play against each other twice and against teams in the other group once; 10 games per team; Teams are then seeded by basis on win–loss records. Ties are broken among point differentials of the tied teams. Standings will be determined in one league table; teams do not qualify by basis of groupings.
The top five teams after the eliminations will advance to the semifinals.[1]
Semifinals will be two round robin affairs with the remaining five teams. Results from the eliminations will be carried over. A playoff incentive for a finals berth will be given to the team that will win at least five of their eight semifinal games.
The top two teams (or the top team and the winner of the playoff incentive) will face each other in a best-of-seven championship series. The next two teams (or the loser of the playoff incentive and the fourth seeded team) dispute the third-place trophy in a one-game playoff.
^ abcHead-to-head quotient: Alaska 1.041. Gordon's 0.994, San Miguel 0.945[2]
^If a team outside the top two teams wins at least five semifinal round games, then it and the second-placed team will playoff for the last finals berth; otherwise, the top 2 teams qualify outright.
