Rain or Shine came out smoking and NorthPort just couldn’t keep up.
What was expected to be a close fight between two high-intensity teams turned into a yawner with the Elasto Painters taking a 127-107 wire-to-wire decision to arrest a two-game slide in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup Thursday night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
A 33-point first quarter explosion set the tone for Rain or Shine’s blowout in a strong bounce back for a 6-3 win-loss record.
“The last two games we had good starts, but we collapsed in the second quarter. But we were able to hold on in this game and maintain control of the whole game,” head coach Yeng Guiao said.
Seven Elasto Painters scored in double figures led by Deon Thompson’s 27 points on an efficient 11-of-13 field goal shooting. He added 11 rebounds for Rain or Shine, which shared the ball well with 30 assists.
Point guard Adrian Nocum came three dishes short of a triple-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists while Santi Santillan added 16 points for the Elasto Painters.
Andrei Caracut had 13 points, Anton Asistio got 12 while Keith Datu and Beau Belga chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Rain or Shine’s bench mob outplayed its Batang Pier counterparts, 64-24.
Guiao praised his men for their positive response following a series of stinging losses to Phoenix and Converge after a five-game win streak.
“Before we came out of the locker room I told them to unburden ourselves of the losing streak, take it off our minds and just focus on competing. We can win at our best. If we are competing at our best that’s the time we win,” the fiery mentor said.
“In our last games, our level of play dropped once we lost focus. Our objective today is to keep focused, just compete and at the end of the game, go back to the locker room. If we competed well, we will win the game, if not, we’ll definitely lose.”
Rain or Shine’s defense effectively took out NorthPort’s other locals as much of the scoring load fell on the shoulders of import Kadeem Jack, Arvin Tolentino and Joshua Munzon — the only Batang Pier players in double figures.
The Elasto Painters were already up by 15 by the end of the first 12 minutes and 22 by halftime.
Nocum gave Rain or Shine its biggest lead, 121-96, after drilling a four-pointer with 3:17 left.
NorthPort absorbed its second straight defeat as it slid to second spot with a 7-3 card tied with Converge.
Jack had 39 points and 11 rebounds to pace the Batang Pier, who were outhustled by the Elasto Painters at the boards, 46-67.
Tolentino finished with 19 points on 6-of-15 shooting while Munzon had it worse from the field with 7-of-19 clip for 17 points.
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE (127) — Thompson 25, Nocum 16, Santillan 16, Caracut 13, Asistio 12, Datu 11, Norwood 7, Belga 10, Clarito 8, Tiongson 5, Malonzo 2, Lemetti 0, Ildefonso 0.
NORTHPORT (107) — Jack 39, Munzon 17, Tolentino 19, Flores 8, Cuntapay 5, Nelle 5, Miranda 4, Yu 3, Bulanadi 2, Onwubere 3, Navarro 2.
Quarters: 33-18, 62-44, 96-75, 127-107.