RAIN or Shine shoots for the lead in the PBA 50th Season Philippine Cup against NLEX on Saturday at the Ynares Center-Antipolo. The Elasto Painters, however, will be undermanned following the injury to Keith Datu.
READ: Guiao floats all-guard lineup for RoS after losing Datu to injury
Converge, on the other hand, will try to get back to its winning ways against Blackwater to begin Saturday’s double-header.
Here are some of the storylines for the pair of games.
BLACKWATER VS. CONVERGE
When: Saturday, November 8. 5:15 p.m.
Where: Ynares Center-Antipolo
Converge goes for bounce back win
For its game against Blackwater, Converge looks to recover from its 96-90 loss to San Miguel last Sunday. The FiberXers currently hold a 3-2 record and will also look to gain ground with the leaders with a win over the Bossing.
Blackwater's struggles
Blackwater is on a four-game losing streak after its 97-86 defeat to Titan Ultra last Wednesday. The Bossing (1-4) will try to avoid the bottom of the standings currently occupied by Terrafirma and Phoenix.
Shooting woes for Juan GDL
Juan Gomez de Liaño reeled to a 2-of-10 shooting showing against San Miguel after putting up big numbers in previous games including two triple-doubles.
The Converge rookie only had eight points, four rebounds, and six assists – below his usual statistics in past matches.
Battle for the rebounds
Justine Baltazar and Justin Arana lorded the boards once again for Converge against San Miguel, with the former hauling 19 and the latter getting 10. Christian David and Bradwyn Guinto had 11 rebounds each for Blackwater vs. Titan Ultra. The Bossing bigs must keep up with Baltazar and Arana for this game in order to have a chance.
NLEX VS. RAIN OR SHINE
When: Saturday, November 8. 7:30 p.m.
Where: Ynares Center-Antipolo
Down goes Datu
Rain or Shine shoots for solo leadership in the team standings against NLEX. The Elasto Painters are coming off a 91-80 win over Phoenix last Wednesday to improve their win-loss record to 5-1. Th Elasto Painters, however, lost rising center Datu due to a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee.
Undersized Painters
From hereon, the Elasto Painters are going to be undersized even more with Keith Datu’s absence Don’t be surprised if Beau Belga and Kris Porter to get more playing time, and Caelan Tiongson returns from his hamstring injury that kept him out for a couple of games.
Bounce back from blowout defeat
After a solid showing to start the conference, NLEX dropped its record to 4-2 after a stinging 104-74 setback against Barangay Ginebra last Sunday. The Road Warriors are looking to avoid their first losing streak of the conference, while also trying to stay on track with the leaders.
Fourth quarter woes
NLEX suffered the defeat to Ginebra after being limited to 15 points in the final quarter. The Road Warriors only shot 5-of-13 from the field with Robert Bolick scoring just two points and JB Bahio and Kevin Alas held scoreless.
They need more of the three players for the Rain or Shine ballgame.
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