Painters eye end of slide

Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Rain or Shine seeks to end a two-game slide when it collides with a similarly struggling Phoenix squad, while Globalport and NLEX seek breakthrough wins on Wednesday in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Looking to shrug off disappointing performances the last time out, the Elasto Painters and Fuel Masters take the floor at 7 p.m., after the battle between bottom teams NLEX and Globalport.

Rain or Shine was sent crashing to a second straight defeat by Alaska last April 3, after opening the tournament with three straight victories and import Shawn Taggart expressed his concerns over the dip in performance by the team.

“I just feel like any other team (with back-to-back losses), there’s always concern,” Taggart said, after pumping in 40 points in the loss to the Aces.

“You got to go in there and we’re going to have to start going to work. I mean we’ve been working, but now, two losses in a row, we need to focus and keep our eyes on the prize. We got to take it step by step, game by game, and just don’t think that everything’s going to be given.”

Phoenix is coming off a heavy 110-88 defeat to San Miguel last Friday in a game where coach Ariel Vanguardia called on his locals to raise their games to backstop import Jameel McKay.

The Road Warriors’ woes were compounded last Friday by Talk ‘N Text which rallied from 29 points down and stunned NLEX, 126-121, in overtime. It was the Road Warriors’ fifth loss of the tournament.

Globalport, meanwhile, saw Terrence Romeo’s big game go to waste against Blackwater, which handed the Batang Pier a 118-113 loss. The loss also spoiled the debut of new import Malcolm White.