Rain or Shine Elastopainters’ Beau Belga in the PBA Philippine Cup. — PBA IMAGES
Two of the surprise teams in the early goings of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup continued to slip in the standings, creating uncertainties in their quarterfinal aspirations.
Terrafirma’s 116-104 loss to Rain or Shine in Saturday’s match in Caloocan City and Blackwater’s 105-86 defeat at the hands of Barangay Ginebra the previous night at Philsports Arena in Pasig City put both teams in a situation where their remainder games are must-win.
On the flip side, Rain or Shine’s triumph behind 15 threes and 40 assists at Caloocan Sports Complex made it four wins in a row after a 0-4 (win-loss) start, thus giving coach Yeng Guiao’s wards huge hopes of catching the quarterfinal bus given to the top eight teams after the eliminations.
Slump ended
Ginebra, meanwhile, snapped a two-game slide to go 4-3 buoyed by Scottie Thompson’s conference debut after a nagging back problem, with another win against NorthPort in Sunday’s nightcap at Ninoy Aquino Stadium to benefit the crowd darlings in terms of their positioning.
The Gin Kings are in fourth spot, trailing only the 5-0 San Miguel Beermen, NLEX Road Warriors (5-1 going into Saturday’s out-of-town meeting with the TNT Tropang Giga in Candon, Ilocos Sur) and the Batang Pier (4-2). The Elasto Painters are fifth at press time.
In losing to Rain or Shine, Terrafirma blew another chance to close in on getting only the franchise’s second quarterfinal appearance—they previously qualified in the 2016 Governors’ Cup.
Next up for the Dyip are the Batang Pier on April 24 at Ninoy Aquino and the Magnolia Hotshots on May 3 at Philsports Arena. Failing to win both games might kill any chances of them making the playoffs.
Things were looking good for coach Johnedel Cardel, Juami Tiongson, Isaac Go, Stephen Holt, Javi Gomez de Liano and Terrafirma when they stunned Ginebra the previous Sunday, but they lost a tough one to the Beermen three days later.