RAIN or Shine finally broke through TNT in the PBA Philippine Cup semifinals series.
After an overtime heartbreak that saw them drop to 0-2 in the best-of-seven affair, the Elasto Painters bounced back big behind a 107-86 blowout Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
READ: RoS finally finds spark from Asistio, Tiongson to cut TNT lead to 2-1
Five players finished in double figures for coach Yeng Guiao and his team as they avoided losing a third straight game against a TNT side that was without the other half of its twin scoring machine in RR Pogoy.
In the other semis pairing, Barangay Ginebra regained the upperhand as it punished stubborn San Miguel, 100-90.
The Kings found the hot hands in RJ Abarrientos, who erupted for 18 fourth quarter points that allowed them to pull off the win and the 2-1 advantage in their own best-of-seven series.
Abarrientos ended up with a game-high 24 points.
READ: Abarrientos' near-triple double sparks Ginebra win over SMB in Game 3
Here are the five takeaways in the first semis doubleheader to be held at the Big Dome this conference.
1.KEITH DATU MAKES PRESENCE FELT FOR RAIN OR SHINE
Missing in the first two games of the series, the 6-foot-7 Datu finally showed up for the Elasto Painters in Game 3 and delivered a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
The sophomore big man was a non-entity in Games 1 and 2, averaging a measly 1.5 rebounds and a solitary point. The effort somehow offset the team’s shortcoming in the middle as the Elasto Painters try to make do with undersized forwards Leonard Santillan and rookie Caelan Tiongson battling the likes of Poy Erram, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, and Kelly Williams at the other end.
2.ANTON ASSISTIO LIGHTS UP RAIN OR SHINE SCORING
On this night, the diminutive guard got out of the shadows of Andre Caracut, Gian Mamuyac, and Andrian Nocum as he presided over the Elasto Painters’ hot shooting from the floor. Asistio’s numbers were astounding, finishing with 24 points on 7-of-9 field goal shooting. He was 2-of-3 from the four-point line 4-of-5 from three-point range, and 2-of-2 from the foul line. The 30-year-old Ateneo product also added six assists and didn’t commit a turnover in the 28 minutes that he played.
3.TNT REDUCED TO A SINGLE BARREL WITH POGOY INJURED
The Tropang 5G obviously missed the high scoring production of the Cebuano guard who sat out the game due to a hamstring injury. That left the other half of TNT's double scoring barrel in Calvin Oftana mostly carrying the offensive load for the team.
Oftana ended up being a marked man after exploding for 39 points in the Game 2 win, and ended up limited to just 16 on 1-of-6 shooting from the three-point arc. A healthy Pogoy could have certainly made a difference especially after averaging 19.5 points in the first two games of the series.
4.DON TROLLANO STAYS CONSISTENT FOR SMB
The veteran guard has been carrying the load for the top seeded team, win or lose. With June Mar Fajardo not 100 percent healthy, it's Trollano who's been delivering the goods for San Miguel. He topscored for 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting including 2-of-3 from the four-point zone in Sunday night's loss. He had 10 points in the fourth as he tried to hold the fort for the Beermen.
5.ABARRIENTOS FINALLY FINDS RHYTHM
It was the breakout game coach Tim Cone was waiting from the high-scoring rookie guard. Abarrientos showed how explosive a scorer he is by dropping 18 of his 24 points in the fourth quarter when the Kings finally found the separation they needed against the Beermen.
The former Far Eastern University standout capped that fourth quarter scoring by shooting 6-of-8 from the field, including a pair of three pointers and one from the four-point line.
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