Rookie battle: Paul Lee vs Marcio Lassiter
MANILA, Philippines– By now, Rain Or Shine knows that past facts and figures don’t count anymore, especially in a pivotal encounter with Powerade.
Game 5 of their best-of-seven PBA Philippine Cup semifinal series is set Friday with the Elasto Painters gaining momentum after forcing a two-all deadlock in a runaway 110-95 win on Wednesday night.
History has it that 31 of 42 teams which won Game 5 after equalizing the first four games went on to seize the series.
But mentioning this piece of statistical detail won’t even sink into Rain Or Shine coach Yeng Guiao’s psyche.
“Those factors don’t matter anymore. We just evened the series and were back to square one,” said the volatile coach who was fined P80,000 for statements unacceptable to the league during and right after their Game 2 defeat.
For Guiao, shooting, it seems, will be key in the reduced race-to-two affair.
After converting only 3 of 28 from three-point range in Game 3, the Elasto Painters bounced back with a vengeance on Wednesday, firing 10 out of 26 beyond the arc.
They didn’t connect 50 percent, but those threes came when the E-Painters badly needed them.
“We just shot better and worked harder. It’s nice to celebrate the win, but we’re just going to the gym and prepare for a best of three,” said Guiao.
The E-Painters also made a living from the two-point zone, hitting 28 of 54 attempts (51.9 percent) as Jeff Chan (19 points on seven of nine shooting) came to life after failing to find his range in Games 2 and 3.
Gabe Norwood also showed signs of improvement with his double-double performance of 11 points and 11 rebounds to compensate for a pair of overtime errors that Tigers capitalized.
“We’ll just keep on practicing, and we don’t want to lose the momentum. Any advantage you can gain, grab it,” said Guiao.
Gary David registered his sixth straight 30-plus output with 30 markers, Doug Kramer had a brilliant performance of 12 points and 14 rebounds, while rookie Marcio Lassiter had 18 but shot only five of 13 from the field.
“We’re outplayed by Rain Or Shine. Pure and simple. We’re outhustled although we knew we could had been up, 3-1,” said Powerade coach Bo Perasol. “My players are aware of the areas where we need to adjust.”