NLEX poised itself as one of the hottest teams in the PBA Philippine Cup while Rain or Shine welcomed back its complete frontcourt to get back on the winning track anew.
These were the events that shaped up as the mid-season conference resumed Wednesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
READ: Bolick, Torres rescue NLEX in the face of a late Ginebra comeback
The Road Warriors were the biggest winners of the day as they survived a huge Barangay Ginebra fourth quarter comeback to prevail, 89-86.
They now raised their record at 4-1 as the team won its fourth straight game – the second longest in the tournament so far behind the five consecutive wins of league leader Magnolia.
The Elasto Painters on the other hand, reactivated big men Caelan Tiongson and Beau Belga as they teamed up with frontcourt partner Keith Datu to turn back a hot-shooting Blackwater Bossing, 120-106, for a 3-2 record.
Ginebra meanwhile evened its slate at 2-2, and Blackwater fell to 1-4 with its second straight loss.
Here are three takeaways in the May 7 doubleheader at the NAS
1.XYRUS TORRES SHOWING HE BELONGS
The Far Eastern University alum knows no fear and delivered down the stretch of the Road Warriors' toughest challenge so far.
Despite struggling for most of the game, Torres had the guts to take the biggest shot of the night against Barangay Ginebra, sinking the all-important three pointer that doused off the Kings' furious rally from 17 points down.
While he missed two free throws that could have sealed the win for NLEX, his willingness to take charge when the game was on the line showed he's one go-to-guy the Road Warriors can rely to moving forward to their campaign.
2.BEN ADAMOS RELIABLE BIG MAN OFF THE BENCH FOR GINEBRA
It took the game against NLEX for Barangay Ginebra to see the potential of the former San Beda center. The 6-foot-6 Adamos held the frontcourt for the Kings when nothing was going right for regular big men Japeth Aguilar and Troy Rosario.
He finished with six points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from the field and was part of the Ginebra bench mob that held its ground against the Road Warriors during a stretch when NLEX was trying to put the Kings down for good.
3.RAIN OR SHINE FLEXES OFFENSIVE MIGHT
With Keith Datu coming through with a career-high 27 points, the performance appeared to rub off to the rest of the Elasto Painters as six other players finished in double figures.
An eighth player in Felix Pangiliman-Lemetti could have also submitted double figures in scoring, but fell short after scoring eight points.
Of the 11 players fielded in by coach Yeng Guiao, only Belga failed to log in a single point.
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