Rain or Shine beats Ginebra, 118-112, on Friday, May 19, 2017. (Photo from the PBA website)
New Rain or Shine import Duke Crews just played his first PBA game on Friday since the 2011 PBA Commissioner’s Cup, and he arrived on an Elasto Painters team who is fighting for a playoff spot.
Crews was brought in to replace Shawn Taggart and help his first Rain or Shine shrug off its inconsistency.
And the returning import did just that putting up 28 points and grabbing 22 rebounds to lead the Elasto Painters 118-112 over Ginebra at the Cuneta Astrodome.
“It’s a huge win because we were 4-4 coming into this game and we needed this win,” said Crews as they improve to 5-4 and take the seventh seed in the standings.
And it wasn’t just Rain or Shine’s inconsistency he shrugged off, it was also the atmosphere that comes of playing against crowd darlings Ginebra.
The Gin Kings have always enjoyed a rabid fan base that can go from calm to delirious in a span of a 6-0 run, but Crews just brushed it all off.
“It wasn’t big because this was a Ginebra game, it could be anybody,” Crews said. “It was big because we needed to win and we got it.” /atm