MANILA, Philippines -- Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao warned his team that the series is far from over even after deflating Petron Blaze's morale in a come-from-behind 103-94 win Wednesday night in Game 2 of their PBA Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinals series.
“2-0 is a good place to be at this point, but we cannot celebrate,†Guiao said after his Elasto Painters dug themselves out twice from a 16-point hole in the opening half.
“We still need to win two more games. They did a good job in stopping our breaks and slowing down the game, but we’ll just prepare for them by Saturday," Guiao added.
For a while, the Petron Blaze Boosters looked like ready to even the series. They were still leading by 13, 85-72, in the early moments of the fourth quarter when the gritty and physical Elasto Painters made their comeback.
Rain or Shine outscored Petron, 31-9, the rest of the way to extend their franchise-best winning streak to 10.
“Petron was in control for the most part of the game but the guys just did not give up. It’s a testament to the guys’ desire to win, determination to win. It’s a testament to their mental toughness, a lot of mental toughness that you need to win against Petron," Guiao said.
The Boosters came out with great resolve and for most parts of the game, they've held their own and even matched the Painters' physicality. But eventually, they got tired and ran out of gas in the end.
"They (Boosters) tried to play as physical as they can, but that’s really right down our game. That’s what we want our game to be. You have to be mentally into it to win the game and the physicality is more natural for us,†Guiao said.
More than the physicality of the series, the Boosters' mental toughness will be put to test beginning Game 3 on Saturday.