Games today:
(Ninoy Aquino Stadium)
5:15 p.m. — TNT vs Terrafirma
7:30 p.m. — Macau vs Meralco
Six games. Six wins.
There’s no stopping Rain or Shine, not even a massive fourth quarter uprising by desperate Converge, as the Elasto Painters stayed perfect with a 120-111 victory in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup on Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Rain or Shine showed composure down the stretch and quelled the FiberXers’ scary fight back from a 23-point deficit to extend the club’s best start on the same night the team formally retired the jersey of former franchise player Gabe Norwood.
Import Jaylen Johnson nailed the dagger three-pointer, he celebrated with a shimmy, for a 119-111 advantage in the last 20 seconds of the game when the FiberXers threatened a final time by closing the gap to just five points.
“It just happened. My team set me up to shine and make that shot so we executed,” said Johnson, who finished with 35 points on 12-of-23 field goal shooting including five triples.
Johnson added 21 rebounds with three assists, two blocks and a steal in 39 minutes of action.
Gian Mamuyac added 21 points, Caelan Tiongson scored 14 while Andrei Caracut and Felix Lemetti had 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Elasto Painters, who survived a 36-point fourth quarter outburst by Converge.
Rain or Shine almost squandered a huge lead after allowing the FiberXers to unleash a blistering 30-9 run that closed it to a slim 109-107 separation following a Juan Gomez de Liano layup with 2:51 left.
A pair of charities by Tiongson and a trey by Johnson gave the Elasto Painters some breathing room with two minutes left before Converge staged one last hurrah. Alec Stockton’s two foul shots cut Rain or Shine’s lead to 116-111 with 58 seconds left but Johnson brought down the hammer.
“It’s always a mental collapse. It’s just relaxing when you feel you have a good lead. It happened often but I think we got lucky again. One of these nights, we won’t be able to survive those kinds of rallies but as long as we have momentum and luck is still on side we’ll be OK,” Elasto Painters head coach Yeng Guiao said.
After being outworked in fastbreak points in the first half, Rain or Shine got its running game going with 11 fastbreak points in its 34-point third quarter explosion that put the squad up by a mile.
The Elasto Painters extended their 20-point lead to end the third canto to 100-77 after a Mike Malonzo triple with 10:32 left in the game.
Converge suffered a fifth straight loss for a 1-5 slate despite the return of Gomez de Liaño and Calvin Abueva from injuries.
Stockton had 17 points, Mickey Williams, Justin Arana and Kylor Kelley has 16 each while Gomez de Liano had 14 for the FiberXers, who outran the Elasto Painters in their strongest suit with a 40-28 lead in fastbreak points.
It was a special night for Rain or Shine beyond staying perfect in standings.
For the first time in franchise history, the Elasto Painters honored a former player by retiring Norwood’s No. 5 jersey.
Joined by his family, friends, Rain or Shine teammates and management, the 41-year-old forward barely held back his tears during the simple jersey retirement ceremony held during the halftime break.
“I hope I brought joy and excitement to your lives when you would tune in and watch. I pray that I carried myself in a way that was honorable to represent the country,” said the two-time PBA champion and former Gilas Pilipinas star.