RAIN or Shine built a huge lead early to whip Blackwater, 122-106, on Wednesday and stretch its winning streak to five in the PBA 49th Season Commissioner’s Cup at the Philsports Arena.
The Elasto Painters showed no signs of rust from the holiday break as they jumped to their biggest lead at 39-16 in the first quarter, enough to keep the Bossing the rest of the way en route to a 5-1 win-loss mark.
Deon Thompson scored 10 of his 25 points in the first quarter and collected 16 rebounds for the Elasto Painters, whose opening loss Meralco when they played without an import still stand as their lone defeat of the conference.
Adrian Nocum had 22 points, while Santi Santillan added 20 markers for the Elasto Painters, which dealt the Bossing their third straight defeat.
Blackwater, which missed the services of rookie Sedrick Barefield, slipped to 1-6 win-loss.
Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao was glad that his players were sharp from the get-go with an unconventional starting five that included Anton Asistio, Caelan Tiongson, and Nick Demusis setting the pace for the team.
“My primary concern at the beginning was how sharp the guys going to be coming off almost a three-week break,” said Guiao. “This is our first game in the New Year. Medyo concerned ako kung paano nila lalaruin ‘yung first game namin. We’ve had good practices, but iba pa rin pag makita mo dun sa laro.
“We had a good first quarter actually. Maganda yung start namin. But we really had a bad second quarter that’s why we lost the 23-point lead. But what’s good about it is it’s a game of runs and we were able to get enough runs for ourselves to win the game,” said Guiao.
The Elasto Painters also limited Bossing import George King to 35 points after he went off for 64 in their Governors’ Cup encounter where they lost, 139-118, last September 23.
“Maganda nga yung starting five namin. Inulit ko rin after the first half. We went back to our starting five because they gave us the edge nung sa una. On both ends, they were just doing their jobs. Offense and defense. Tapos nakita mo ‘yung effort ng Caelan sa pag-defense kay George King. So sa umpisa pa lang talagang sinet na ni Caelan ‘yung tone ng pag-defense sa kanya,” Guiao added.
Asistio added a conference-high 18 points in the starting role, while Tiongson added 11 before going down with an injury for Rain or Shine, which goes up against Phoenix on Saturday.
Myke Ayonayon had 11 points, while Justin Chua and Christian David had 10 points apiece for the Bossing, who will try to break their losing skid against Barangay Ginebra on Sunday.
The scores:
Rain or Shine 122 – Thompson 25, Nocum 22, Santillan 20, Asistio 18, Tiongson 11, Clarito 9, Demusis 8, Caracut 6, Datu 2, Ildefonso 1, Lemetti 0, Belga 0, Escandor 0, Norwood 0.
Blackwater 106 – King 35, Ayonayon 11, David 10, Chua 10, Escoto 9, Ponferada 6, Suerte 6, Kwekuteye 5, Jopia 5, Hill 4, Casio 3, Corteza 2, Guinto 0.
Quarters; 39-25; 56-47; 94-79; 122-106.
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