# 1990 PBA Third Conference

The 1990 Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Third Conference was the third and last conference of the 1990 PBA season. It started on September 30 and ended on December 20, 1990. The tournament is a two-import format, which requires each team to have two American reinforcements.

## Format

The following format will be observed for the duration of the conference:
* The teams were divided into 2 groups.
* 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.
* Semifinals will be two round robin affairs with the remaining teams. Results from the elimination round will be carried over. A playoff incentive for a finals berth will be given to the team that will win 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-five championship series. The next two teams will qualify for a best-of-three playoff for third place.

## Elimination round
### Team standings

| Pos | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Alaska Air Force | 8 | 2 | .800 | — | Semifinal round |
| 2 | Formula Shell Zoom Masters | 7 | 3 | .700 | 1 | Semifinal round |
| 3 | Presto Tivolis | 6 | 4 | .600 | 2 | Semifinal round |
| 4 | Purefoods Hotdogs | 6 | 4 | .600 | 2 | Semifinal round |
| 5 | Sarsi Sizzlers | 5 | 5 | .500 | 3 | Semifinal round |
| 6 | San Miguel Beermen | 4 | 6 | .400 | 4 | |
| 7 | Añejo Rum 65ers | 4 | 6 | .400 | 4 | |
| 8 | Pepsi Hotshots | 0 | 10 | .000 | 8 | |

## Semifinal round
### Team standings

| Pos | Team | W | L | PCT | GB | Qualification |
| 1 | Alaska Air Force | 12 | 6 | .667 | — | Advance to the Finals |
| 2 | Purefoods Hotdogs | 11 | 7 | .611 | 1 | Advance to the Finals |
| 3 | Shell Rimula X | 11 | 7 | .611 | 1 | Proceed to third-place playoff |
| 4 | Presto Tivolis | 11 | 7 | .611 | 1 | Proceed to third-place playoff |
| 5 | Sarsi Sizzlers | 7 | 11 | .389 | 5 | |
| Pos | Team | W | L |
| 1 | Purefoods Hotdogs | 5 | 3 |
| 2 | Presto Tivolis | 5 | 3 |
| 3 | Shell Rimula X | 4 | 4 |
| 4 | Alaska Air Force | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | Sarsi Sizzlers | 2 | 6 |

## Second seed playoffs

Three teams finished tied for second. The three teams were ranked via head-to-head quotient, with the best performing team drawing a bye to the second round.

### First round

* Vintage
* December 4
* recap
* The ULTRA, Pasig

### Second round

* Vintage
* December 6
* recap
* The ULTRA, Pasig

## Third place playoffs

* Vintage
* December 11
* recap
* The ULTRA, Pasig
* Vintage
* December 13
* recap
Shell Rimula X 141, Presto Tivolis 132 :
* Shell wins series, 2–0 ||
* The ULTRA, Pasig

## Finals

* Vintage
* December 11
* The ULTRA, Pasig
* Vintage
* December 13
* The ULTRA, Pasig
* Vintage
* December 16
* The ULTRA, Pasig
* Vintage
* December 18
* The ULTRA, Pasig
* Vintage
* December 20
Purefoods Hotdogs 99, Alaska Air Force 98 :
* Purefoods wins series, 3–2 ||
* The ULTRA, Pasig