WITH its confidence at an all-time high and momentum on its side, Rain or Shine tries to bury Talk ‘N Text in a hole very few teams have ever climbed out of when they resume Wednesday their best-of-seven series for the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The winners of the last two games, the Elasto Painters gun for a commanding 3-1 lead over the Tropang Texters in the 7 p.m. contest and a bigger shot at a first title since the 2012 Governors’ Cup.
After failing to win a single game in the last two series they were pitted against the Texters, the Painters seem to have Talk ‘N Text’s number this time, winning Game 3 on Sunday more impressively than when they scored their breakthrough just two nights before.
Rain or Shine led by as large as 22 and was in the driver’s seat the whole of Game 3. In that game, the Painters, tagged as the underdogs before the start of the series, played every inch like the favorites.
Paul Lee will wear a mouth guard and a temporary tooth for Game 4 as he tries to actually finish the series.
In their last championship run, when Jamelle Cornley led the Painters past Purefoods three years ago, Lee dislocated his shoulder in Game 2 and watched the rest of the series from the sidelines.
Lee, the No. 2 Draft pick who won Rookie of the Year that season, has postponed a dental procedure that will surgically implant a tooth he lost when he took a vicious elbow from Ivan Johnson in the third quarter last Sunday.
Wayne Chism will also be there to lead the Painters offensively and anchor the Rain or Shine’s solid defense.
“I think we just played fantastic defense,” Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao told reporters after Game 3.
The burden of adjustment has fallen on Talk ‘N Text for the second straight game. And if there is anything that coach Jong Uichico would want to do, it is to hold down the high-octane Painters offense.
“I think we scored enough points [to win a normal game],” Uichico had said on Sunday. “The problem is, like in Game 2, we gave up too much points [defensively].”
Jason Castro, who averaged 32 points in the last two Talk ‘N Text defeats, will be at the forefront of the Texters’ offense anew together with Johnson.
Meanwhile, the Best Player of the Conference and the Best Import awards will be handed out shortly before tip-off tonight.