Rain or Shine needed a little push from spark plug Adrian Nocum to jumpstart its vaunted running game.
But the Elasto Painters still had to sweat it out against the pesky all-Filipino Phoenix before winding up with a 116-99 rout to claim their fourth victory and remain unscathed on top of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup Group B Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Rain or Shine found it challenging to shake off the import-less Fuel Masters, who kept the game close until the end of the third period before fading away in the final canto.
“It’s really hard to go up against a team trying their best to compensate for the absence of an import. Phoenix is a good team. They have the materials. They are well-coached. I was really worried at first because we gave them a feeling that they can stay with you even without an import. That’s dangerous,” Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao said.
“At a certain point, we had to make a little distance with them and good thing we finally broke away from them in the fourth. If not for that we’re going to have a long night against them even without an import,” added Guiao after his squad handed the Fuel Masters their third loss in as many games.
Nocum finished with 21 points on 9-of-16 field goals shooting in a performance spiked by three blocks and two assists for the 4-0 Elasto Painters.
Aaron Fuller paced Rain or Shine with a double-double of 28 points and 22 rebounds, Jhonard Clarito had 15 markers and nine boards while Andrei Caracut made 15.
The Elasto Painters scored 28 fastbreak points and got 21 second chance points while forcing Phoenix to commit 17 miscues that they turned to 19 turnover points.
Nocum, who sat out the opening period, provided the spark off the bench as he blew off in the second quarter with 19 points to wake Rain or Shine up from a sluggish start.
Despite being handicapped by missing a reinforcement after replacement import Le’Bryan Nash was measured over the 6-foot-6 height limit, the all-local Phoenix crew came out with guns blazing to pounce on the Elasto Painters.
The Fuel Masters behind Ricci Rivero even held a 12-point lead at one point in the opening period.
Nocum took matters into his own hands in a relief role in the second canto with an efficient seven-minute outing. He shot 8-of-7 from the field including a perfect 7-of-7 from two-point area and anchored Rain or Shine’s 16 fastbreak points after scoring none in the first.
The sophomore guard’s output was the most by a local player in a quarter since NLEX’s Robert Bolick had 20 in the first period in a 93-97 loss to Meralco in Game 1 of the Philippine Cup best-of-three quarterfinals back on 10 May.
The game was tied at 55 entering the halftime break.
Phoenix was forced to play without an import after Nash, who was brought in to replace Jay McKinnis turned out to be ineligible. The Fuel Masters, however, could not reactivate McKinnis because he has not been relegated to the reserve list.
RJ Jazul and Jayjay Alejandro had 12 points each for Phoenix.
Rookie Kai Ballungay had 11 markers while Rivero fizzled out after an eight-point first quarter turnout to end his night with 10.
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE (116) — Fuller 28, Nocum 21, Clarito 15, Caracut 13, Mamuyac 9, Tiongson 8, Santillan 6, Datu 6, Belga 5, Ildefonso 4, Asistio 1, Lemetti 0, Villegas 0.
PHOENIX (99) — Jazul 12, Alejandro 12, Ballungay 11, Rivero 10, Muyang 9, Tio 8, Salado 8, Perkins 8, Verano 7, Tuffin 5, Mocon 5, Daves 4, Garcia 0, Soyud 0, Manganti 0.
Quarters: 19-29, 55-55, 84-76, 116-99.