SHOWING mental toughness in a game that required nothing less, Rain or Shine last night pulled out all the stops on both ends in the stretch to gain the headstart over Alaska in the best-of-seven title series for the Oppo-PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
The Elasto Painters blew early command but finished strong when they needed to by pouncing on the Aces’ mistakes in the endgame, scoring a 105-97 victory in a series-opening game that hung in the balance literally until the final minute Friday night at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
Paul Lee hit the dagger triple with 51.4 seconds remaining that ushered the Painters to a 99-94 lead, capping his best offensive game of the conference and making sure that Rain or Shine got early command in this series deemed by most pundits to be a long one.
“This is the right time, championship time, when everything is on the line and Paul is back to his role as the leader of this team,” Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao declared after his superstar point guard, out for most of the season because of a knee injury, finished with 20 points.
“We knew Paul was getting his game back, two to three games ago,” Guiao went on.
The Painters scored 16 points in the first 3:44 of the contest against a team that uses defense as its trump card, leading by as large as 14 points early, only for Alaska to come back behind the hot-shooting Rob Dozier and Cyrus Baguio to even take the lead a couple of times in the fourth period.
Dozier finished with a career-high 41 points, scoring in twin digits in all but the fourth period.
“We were kind of waiting for him to just miss his shots,” Guiao said of the Alaska import, who went 18-for-22 from the field, including 4-for-6 from three-point range.
Jericho Cruz was responsible for that hot Rain or Shine start, shooting 12 of his 18 there, while Beau Belga dropped three triples on the Aces on the way to 15 points.
Game 2 is slated tomorrow also at the Big Dome floor and Alaska coach Alex Compton wants his squad to be sharper for that one.
“We made a bunch of mistakes down the stretch,” Compton said. “That’s what makes Rain or Shine really good—you make a mistake and they make you pay.”
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 105—Lee 20, Cruz 18, Belga 15, Norwood 11, Ahanmisi 8, Ponferada 7, Henderson-Niles 6, Almazan 4, Quiñahan 4, Tiu 4, Chan 3, Ibañes 3, Trollano 2.
ALASKA 97—Dozier 41, Baguio 14, Baclao 10, Abueva 9, Banchero 9, Jazul 5, Dela Rosa 4, Hontiveros 3, Thoss 2, Exciminiano 0.
Quarters: 29-25, 51-46, 74-77, 105-97