RAIN or Shine brought quality inside the PBA bubble and even entertainment to fans outside of it in 2020. But the 6-5 win-loss record in the eliminations for the Elastopainters was not enough for them to go deep into the playoffs.
Here are five top moments of Rain or Shine in 2020.
Fun inside the bubble
Rain or Shine brought fun and laughter inside and even outside the bubble with antics from its players that was posted on social media. With the players inside the bubble, the duo of Beau Belga and Ryan Arana decided to put up a sari-sari store, and the sketch featuring James Yap buying laundry detergent drawing laughs online. Among the funniest acts was done by Arana, who wore a Sadako costume during Halloween, giving current and former teammates such as Raymond Almazan and Jonathan Grey a fright.
Clutch wins thanks to Rey Nambatac
Nambatac proved he is one of the clutch players in the leagure, nailing a game-tying three-point shot in their encounter against eventual champion Barangay Ginebra to send the game into overtime on their way to an 85-82 win. Prior to that shot, Nambatac also nailed a key jumper for Rain or Shine in its match-up against erstwhile five-time defending champion San Miguel, 87-83. Head coach Caloy Garcia later labeled Nambatac as a future star of the league.
Death threat
While he hit big shots during the bubble campaign, Nambatac’s late three-point basket in an 90-88 loss to Phoenix led to a death threat from fans who appeared to be in a losing end of an ‘ending’ game because of that conversion. Nambatac and his girlfriend Keisha Ancheta sought assistance from broadcaster Raffy Tulfo, with the two bent on filing charges against those who made threats.
ROS loses key game
The Elastopainters had a decent campaign in the Philippine Cup bubble, piling up six victories heading into the final game of the eliminations. But due to a tight race for a place in the top four, Rain or Shine needed to win by eight points or more during its final elimination round game against Phoenix Super LPG to gain a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals. They lost, 90-88, after squandering a 14-point lead, setting up a quarterfinal tiff against top-seed Barangay Ginebra.
Early elimination
The costly loss to Phoenix led to the end of Rain or Shine’s campaign in the bubble as the Elastopainters were defeated by Barangay Ginebra, 81-73, in the quarterfinals. The elimination put to waste the solid outing of Javee Mocon in the bubble after he averaged a team-high 12 points in the conference.
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