MANILA, Philippines – Rain or Shine, twice dealt a deflating loss by Barangay Ginebra in the elimination round, made it sure there won’t be a third time tonight, utterly dominating the Kings for a vengeful 82-65 triumph in the opener of their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-three quarterfinals showdown at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The horror of losing a 17-point bulge to the Kings the last time in their mind, the Elasto Painters played no-nonsense basketball throughout this time and rewarded them with an emphatic victory that sent them to the threshold of the all-Filipino Final Four.
Paul Lee and Chris Tiu, players who were not there when Rain or Shine was twice stunned by Ginebra, came through with valuable contributions as the Elasto Painters lived up to their billing as the playoffs third seeds, pushing the Kings to the brink of elimination.
“We didn’t expect it to be easy,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, surprised of the lopsided game that saw them lead by as many as 28 points in the third quarter.
“We played the defense that we wanted. Everybody was active. Everybody did their job. Rebounding-wise, everybody did their share,” said Guiao, particularly lauding his boys for their solid effort on the defensive end.
The Elasto Painters had all Ginebra players in check, including backcourt aces Mark Caguioa and LA Tenorio who were held to just 22 points together.
Rain or Shine held the whole Ginebra team to no more than 15 points in each of the four quarters, making the biggest damage in the middle periods as the E-Painters took the half at 39-29 and broke away for good in the third period.
The Elasto Painters opened the third quarter with a back-breaking 18-2 run and sat on a 61-40 cushion going into the payoff period.
Playing his second game in the season, Lee helped the team in their decisive surge in the second and third quarters, finishing with 11 points and four rebounds.
Chris Tiu, another young RoS player who has just returned from an injury, had his share in their big win.
“We prepared well for this game. And leading by 10 at the half, coach Yeng told us ‘no let up.’ We made sure there’s no repeat of our loss the last time where we bungled a 17-point lead,” said Lee.
“Hopefully, we can keep playing good defense in Game Two. We play good ‘D’ and our offense follows,” Lee also said.
“Paul (Lee) took a while to get started. When he got his rhythm, he’s able to play his old game,” said Guiao of the 2011-12 Rookie of the Year awardee.