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ONE FINAL DANCE
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IT ALL boils down to one more game.
Rain or Shine showed up with the defensive tenacity coach Yeng Guiao wanted and got away with a 101-93 win over Talk N Text Sunday that sent their PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals series into a deciding game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the victory, the Elasto Painters snapped out of back-to-back losses and evened up the series at three games apiece with the deciding match set Wednesday, also at the Big Dome.
Wayne Chism notched 18 points and 24 rebounds and Raymond Almazan 18 and 10, but Guiao said it was his E-Painters’ ability to stymie the Tropang Texters in stretches that spelled the biggest difference.
“We played a lot better defense than the last time,” noted Guiao. “As I’ve said before, the only way to beat Talk N Text is to be prepared to make the stops. We were able to challenge a lot of their shots today. Also with the kind of effort we put in, it was clear the guys really wanted to extend this to a Game 7.”
Texters coach Jong Uichico said Wednesday’s match should be one exciting game that could go either way.
“It all boils down to one game, a winner-take-all. That’s the way the series has been, you never know what’s gonna happen (between) one game and the next,” said Uichico.
“Give credit to what Rain or Shine did,” added Uichico. “Rain or Shine gave more effort today.”
Uichico should be concerned since Guiao is 2-0 in Game 7s, one with Red Bull during the 2002 Commissioner’s Cup and in the 2012 Governors’ Cup with his current team.
For his part, Uichico is 1-2 in a deciding game of a race-to-four while TNT is 1-5.
Ranidel de Ocampo scored 21 points, Jayson Castro 17 points and eight assists and Jay Washington and Harvey Carey had at least 11 points each. But their combined efforts could not quite make up what was lost from Ivan Johnson.
Johnson was able to take just nine attempts from the floor, missed seven of those and was limited to just a single point in the fourth quarter. In all, he finished with just six points, some 17 below his series average, and as many rebounds while hobbled by foul trouble.
Worse, Johnson committed his fifth foul by seemingly clutching the face of a driving Paul Lee at the final 3:37 mark, drawing the ire of Guiao and giving the E-Painters additional desire to secure the game from an 89-82 count.
Lee, who has also been on the receiving end earlier of inadvertent hits in the groin and neck by Kelly Williams, could only come up with a charity split off the foul, but Almazan, Chism and Gabe Norwood made it a 96-87 difference, only 45.7 ticks left.
Desperation triples by Larry Fonacier moved TNT within 93-97, but Chism calmly quashed the threat with freebies inside the last 13 seconds.
Still, Johnson’s act rankled Guiao.
“What do you need to do to get a flagrant? He was two arm’s length away from the ball. Everybody knew he was going to get Paul’s face. What do you need to do to get a flagrant call?” fumed Guiao.
“He kept bumping us again. Hinabol niya si Chris (Tiu), he was not even warned and he was in a fighting stance? I think he’s mentally unstable but that’s going to help us. He’s been a menace.”
Notwithstanding Johnson reverting to some of his bruising ways Rain or Shine lost little of its focus, that became apparent when it overcame an early deficit to lead by as many as 54-38, late in the second period.
The Texters cut the deficit to just eight at halftime and would even close in at 54-57.
Each time, however, the E-Painters had a ready counter. (NC)
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EDITORS' PICK
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