Rain or Shine’s Gabe Norwood. PBA IMAGES
Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia wasn’t exaggerating when he said two nights before that he had witnessed his team’s best practice.
The Elasto Painters justified that claim when they ran roughshod on NLEX Friday night, 97-86, and Garcia now has just one wish as Rain or Shine jockeys for playoff position in the PBA Philippine Cup: “I just hope we can be consistent in playing this way.”
It was a great way to bounce back for Rain or Shine, which became the butt of jokes after losing to doormat KIA Picanto, 98-94, over the weekend, and Garcia did a good job in making his Painters move on from that debacle.
“I just told them that we cannot take that back,” Garcia said in Filipino after drawing 20 points from point guard Maverick Ahanmisi and twin digits from three others at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
“I just asked them to focus on our next six games, because that will be very important.”
The win was the third in six games for the Painters, the same record now held by Phoenix Petroleum, which held on later in the night to clip Barangay Ginebra, 87-82.
Playing without Greg Slaughter and Joe Devance, the Kings dropped to 2-4 like the Road Warriors.
Ahanmisi drained 5-of-7 triple tries and helped the Painters lead by as large as 21 with the help of a Rain or Shine defense that was unrelenting in the second half.
The Painters thwarted several Road Warrior rallies that had NLEX coming within 10 points a couple of times in that period.
NLEX tumbled to a fourth straight defeat after opening up with two victories.
The Road Warriors continued their tailspin because they simply could not execute when they needed to—and the Rain or Shine defense had a lot to do with that.
Meanwhile, Alaska and Magnolia shoot to extend their respective winning streaks to four when they collide with separate sides in a Petron Saturday Special double-header also at the fabled Big Dome floor.
The Aces take the court against Blackwater at 4:30 p.m., looking to win four straight for the first time in what seems like ages, while the Hotshots try to keep solo second place when they tangle with TNT KaTropa at 6:45 p.m.