San Mig Coffee reasserts mastery over Rain or Shine
San Mig’s James Mays eludes Rain or Shine’s Alex Mclean. Photo from Nuki Sabio
MANIlA, Philippines —San Mig Coffee couldn’t do anything wrong while Rain or Shine couldn’t make a shot.
And the win couldn’t get any more convincing for the Mixers as they blew out the Elasto Painters, 91-74, Saturday night in the 2014 PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We had a little bit of everything going for us tonight. We played really good defense, we controlled the boards and just kind of overpowered them inside,” San Mig Coffee coach Tim Cone told reporters after his squad picked up its third win in as many games.
The game marked the two teams’ first meeting since San Mig Coffee beat Rain or Shine in six games to capture the Philippine Cup title last February 26 and the match looked as if it’s just a continuation of their series with the Mixers picking up where they left off.
Highly-active import James Mays was in his usual productive self despite being hobbled by foul trouble as he finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds, two steals and two blocks while wingmen PJ Simon and James Yap added 16 and 10 points, respectively for the Mixers.
“PJ was making shots, James (Yap) was making 3s. Our second group was coming out playing good defense, Ping was his usual self and Joe was making great passes so it was really just everybody contributed a little bit and it turned to a lot when everybody does that,” Cone said.
It was just a five-point game to start the third quarter after a 3-pointer made by Jeff Chan before San Mig Coffee went on a blistering run with its every player on the floor contributing to pad onto the lead.
Back-to-back treys by Simon and Yap and another triple not long after by the two-time MVP made it, 60-44, with 7:18 left in the third quarter. Another trey this time by Justin Melton compounded ROS’ misery, 73-52, early in the final period.
The Mixers lead soon ballooned to 27 before the Painters scored on garbage points late to make the game appear a little closer than it was.
The only thing Cone thinks that didn’t work out for his team was Mays getting into foul trouble.
That situation though, didn’t keep Mays from making his presence felt on both ends.
“When he’s on the floor he’s dominant out there. He just dominates with his activity level. He just does it all within our offense which is key,” Cone said of his import.
Alex McLean also had 18 for the Painters, who shot just 36% from the field and dropped to 1-3. Paul Lee tallied 13.
The Mixers got off to a fast start and apart from allowing the Painters to get to within five, they never letup.
“We knew we had to be real sharp to start the game and we were.”
RELATED STORY
PBA: Texters pull plug on Bolts, Kings keep Batang Pier winless
