Aces shoot for 3-1 series lead

PAUL Lee of Rain or Shine (right) hopes to get the better of his matchup against JV Casio of Alaska in Game 4 of their semifinal showdown. AUGUST DELA CRUZ

Alaska tries to pin Rain or Shine’s back even harder to the wall today when the Aces gun for a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven series for a championship playoff berth in the PBA Philippine Cup at Mall of Asia Arena.

Tip-off is at 4 p.m. with the Aces seeking to carry the momentum of an authoritative Game 3 win where they, for the first time in the series, started out hot and never trailed in the early going.

Rain or Shine was far from the team that controlled the first three quarters of the first two games, never getting in the groove all night on the way to shooting a measly 33 percent from the field.

Alaska’s gung-ho defensive effort—which has been the Aces’ trademark the entire conference—held the high-powered Rain or Shine offense to just 27 points in the first half of the third game.

The Elasto Painters would never recover from that.

“I don’t think we can win shootouts,” Alaska coach Alex Compton said. “I thought our defense has been really good. That has been the key for us this conference.”

Another key to the early success of the Aces has undoubtedly been former Rookie of the Year Calvin Abueva, the squad’s “energizer bunny” whose effort practically dictates where Alaska will go.

Love him or hate him, Abueva has been the biggest difference in the series thus far. In Game 3, he dropped a career-high 28 points that went with 12 rebounds, giving the Aces several second chance points.

He scored 12 of his total in the fourth period and the Aces, as a whole, collared a total of 15 offensive boards that highlighted their dominance of the rebounding battle that night.

JV Casio has also more than held his own in his matchup with Paul Lee at the point guard spot.

Eric Menk, the 40-year-old former MVP, has seen a rejuvenation at Alaska. In Game 3, he completed a double-double with 14 points and 10 assists.

The winner of this series will meet the victor of the San Miguel Beer-Talk ‘N Text Final Four matchup.