Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
Don’t count out Rain or Shine yet.
The Elasto Painters sent this message on Thursday night, gutting out a come-from-behind 109-100 win to level their best-of-five semifinal clash with fan-favorites Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
Import Reggie Johnson and James Yap delivered the crucial jumpers at the crunch in a whirlwind finish that saw the Ginebra offensive machine conking out in the end.
Yap again summoned his Most Valuable Player form, pumping in 18 points capped by a long triple with less than a minute left that practically foiled the Gin Kings’ bid to gain a commanding 2-0 lead.
“Everybody has written us off. Now it’s 1-1 and we have time to regroup,” said Johnson, highly efficient throughout with his team-high 25 points, 20 rebounds and eight assists.
“We’re a confident bunch. We’re down 0-1 at the start, but we didn’t panic,” added the burly Rain or Shine enforcer.
Electing to take it from afar instead of piercing the Rain or Shine defense in the middle, successive misses by Joe De Vance, Jeff Chan and Justin Brownlee from the arc accelerated their defeat to the disappointment of the pro-Ginebra crowd at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“All I can say is we played great defense in the last three minutes of the game,” said Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia.
While the spotlight trained on Johnson and Yap for that awesome finishing kick, Garcia credited Rey Nambatac for a masterful job off the bench.
The rookie from Letran buried back-to-back three-pointers midway in the fourth that ignited the Elasto Painters’ end-game onslaught.
“He (Nambatac) provided the spark and changed the complexion of the game while James and Reggie hit those big shots,” Garcia said.
Game 3 is on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at Mall of Asia Arena.
Meanwhile, San Miguel Beer will aim to sweep Alaska on Friday night at Ynares Center in Antipolo.
SMB coach Leo Austria is already looking at the Finals, which he said would be against sister team Ginebra.
“It will be a good series against Ginebra because they are the hottest team in the league right now,” Austria said.
The six-time PBA champion coach has picked up enough confidence to declare the Beermen’s passage to the championship after taking a 2-0 lead on Monday following a come-from-behind 105-94 win.
Austria also observed the upgrade Ginebra made with the acquisition of gunner Jeff Chan.