RAIN or Shine and Meralco bounced back like wounded warriors and sent their respective PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals series to a sudden-death encounter.
The Elasto Painters rallied back from a slow start to nip the Converge FiberXers in Game 2 of their best-of-three series, 114-104.
READ: Rain or Shine finishes strong to beat Converge, force decider
The Bolts earlier survived a late Barangay Ginebra Kings late charge for a 108-104 win that also levelled their own playoff series at 1-1.
All four team tangle anew on Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo for the right to join top two seeded teams Northport and TNT in the semifinals.
Let’s take a look at some of the takeaways in Friday night’s doubleheader at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
1.YENG GUIAO FINDS ANOTHER RISING STAR IN ADRIAN NOCUM
The veteran coach has been credited for polishing players considered as diamond in the rough and he obviously found another one in the 25-year-old Nocum. The guard out of Mapua again showed he’s the next rising star in the Rain or Shine stable after scoring a career-playoff high 28 points in the must-win against the FiberXers.
He scored 16 of his total output in the fourth quarter when the Elasto Painters pulled away for good. Guiao even said Nocum could become a future MVP in the league especially if he continue to improve on his outside shooting. On this night, the Tondo native high-flyer went 4-of-6 from three-point range.
2.JANSEN RIOS BEGINS TO EARN SPOT AT MERALCO
The 33-year-old wingman finds a second wind to his career with the Bolts where he has become a vital cog in the rotation of coach Luigi Trillo and active consultant Nenad Vucinic.
Known for his defensive prowess, Rios has been delivering on offense lately just like what he did in the Game 2 win over the Kings. Like Nocum, he also finished with a playoff career-high 15 points, which he spiked with a 2-of-3 shooting from the three-point arc and 6-of-8 overall from the field.
He had six points in the fourth quarter, including a clutch three that helped Meralco keep afloat all the way to the endgame.
3.A QUIET TRIPLE-DOUBLE FOR MERALCO IMPORT AKIL MITCHELL
The 32-year-old reinforcement had to battle foul trouble in Game 2, but made up for it by contributing in other departments, so much so he registered a triple double of 13 points, 17 rebounds, and 10 assists that somehow negated the 36 points of Barangay Ginebra counterpart Justine Brownlee.
Mitchell though, accounted for half of Meralco’s total of 15 turnovers with seven.
4.FEWER TURNOVERS FAILED TO WIN IT FOR GINEBRA
The Kings protected the ball well as proven by the seven turnovers they committed the entire game, or less than half of Meralco’s total. Scottie Thompson had the most numbers of turnovers with two as Ginebra outscored Meralco off turnover points, 20-6.
Still, the team fell short of closing out the series as the Bolts pounded the boards, 51-38, passed the ball better, 23-16, and dominated the paint, 50-38.
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