Road Warriors shoot for the lead

Manny Harris, a late import replacement for NLEX, has so far proven to be a perfect fit for the Road Warriors.

Rain or Shine will be making a third import change, and coach Caloy Garcia is hoping that they have found the same in Richard Ross.

The Road Warriors look for a third straight win with Harris leading them, as they clash with back-to-the-wall Rain or Shine Wednesday when the Elasto Painters try to stay alive in the PBA Governors’ Cup at Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay.

Harris flew in two weeks ago and is averaging 42.5 points a contest for the Road Warriors, who will be shooting for a win at 4:30 p.m. that would give them a piece of the lead with idle sister team TNT heading into the final three weeks of the elimination round.

“We have a long break after this game and it would be nice to reward ourselves with a tie for first place if we can carve out a win versus Rain or Shine,” NLEX coach Yeng Guiao told the league’s website.

And even though the Elasto Painters are struggling with a 2-6 record—tied with three others for the conference’s worst record—Guiao knows that there are no teams that can be taken lightly here.

“You can’t look at Rain or Shine’s win-loss record and judge their abilities,” said Guiao. “They (Painters) are a lot more (talented) than what their record says,” said Guiao.

Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra shoots for a fourth straight win later in the night when the Gin Kings collide with Blackwater at 7 p.m.

Odds favor the Kings over the Elite, who are also at 2-6 and have lost their last three games.

But coach Tim Cone refuses to have that kind of thinking.

“Blackwater has built their team around a lot of shooters, so we’re going to have to get out and extend on all of them. They will pose some very tough matchups for us,” said Cone.

The Elite will be playing their second game ever since dealing away Allein Maliksi and Reymar Jose to Meralco for KG Canaleta and Mike Tolomia.

Blackwater will be coming off a loss to Alaska last Saturday where the Elite trailed big and were never really in it.