Easy breezy

Games today:

(Ynares Center-Montalban)

5:15 p.m. — NLEX vs Terrafirma

7:30 p.m. — Titan vs Converge

Blackwater came out rushing and swept Rain or Shine away with waves of relentless scoring for a wire-to-wire 131-108 opening-day win in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Governors’ Cup Saturday at the Ynares Center-Montalban.

Kentrell Barkley made a loud introduction with a triple-double in his league debut, exploding for 29 points, including 18 in the first quarter where the Bossing created the separation that the Elasto Painters failed to overcome.

The Blackwater import shot the lights out in the opening period, going 7-of-10 from the field, and there was no turning back from there, as his red-hot shooting rubbed off on his local support. He finished with a 12-of-21 shooting clip, including five triples.

“Just being aggressive, playing through my strengths. For me, just be super aggressive. If I get aggressive, that gives my team a better chance of winning the game,” Barkley said of his inspired game that included 15 rebounds and 10 assists.

Barkley had plenty of help with Sedrick Barefield scoring 24 points. RK Ilagan added 22, Dalph Panopio chipped in 19 points while James Una and Abu Tratter had 12 and 11, respectively.

“We put in the work together. We paid attention to coach Pat’s gameplan and it showed tonight,” added Barkley as he credited his teammates for the blowout.

Motivated to get back at Rain or Shine after a 56-point beating in the Commissioner’s Cup — the most lopsided in league history — Blackwater was already up by 15 midway into the opening period with Barkley going 4-of-4 from the three-point area.

The Bossing entered the intermission with a 16-point separation.

Una’s layup with 5:20 left in the fourth quarter gave Blackwater its biggest lead at 34, 103-69.

“Just happy that everybody stepped up and everybody played with their mindset of winning the game and they never gave up. Hopefully, this is a good start, and we’ll be able to sustain it in the games to come,” Bossing head coach Pat Aquino said.

Aaron Fuller did most of the heavy lifting for the Elasto Painters with 38 points and 15 rebounds. Adrian Nocum and Gian Mamuyac finished with 17 and 12 points, respectively, for Rain or Shine.