REID STARS AS ROS TIES SERIES
Struggling through the first half, Arizona Reid came out and played as the Best Import that he is in the final half and through overtime play.
Reid poured in 27 of his 29 points from the halftime break, including two huge treys in the extension play as Rain or Shine outfought San Mig Coffee, 89-87, in a grind-out battle to draw level after two games of the PLDT Home Telpad PBA Governors’ Cup Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Thursday night.
“That’s why he’s the best import. He wants the ball at crunch time, and most likely he will deliver,” said Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao.
“He carried us on his shoulders in the semifinals and he’s carrying us on his shoulders right now. I was frustrated with him in the first half where he made just two points and three rebounds. I told him he can do better than that and he picked it up,” Guiao also said.
Reid did pick it up, and pick it up big time, firing away 13 points in the third period, eight in the fourth canto and six on two-of-two three-pointers in overtime play.
San Mig Coffee had a chance to force another extension, but Mark Barroca missed a running jumper in the dying seconds.
“We could have ended it earlier if had we made our free throws. Paul Lee uncharacteristically missed four free throws. He usually doesn’t miss that much at endgame,” said Guiao.
The Elasto Painters actually muffed seven foul shots in the fourth quarter but stayed in the battle while holding the Mixers to only two points in the last six minutes of play.
The game went into overtime as the two teams both failed to connect on their last possession in regulation.
The Elasto Painters waged a fightback after blowing away a 66-59 lead at the end of the third and fell behind at 66-71 after a 12-0 start by San Mig in the fourth.
Reid nailed a tough, gutsy jumper off Marqus Blakely as he tied the count at 80.
James Yap, San Mig’s biggest hero in Game One, once again threatened to take over the game in the crunch, but failed to complete the job this time.
The two-time MVP awardee fired away all their seven points in OT, including a nice maneuver versus Jeff Chan leading to a bank shot that shoved the Mixers ahead at 87-86 with 13 ticks to go.
Reid, however, won’t be denied of his moment in this particular night – his Best Import coronation.
From a timeout, Reid drained his third of last three-pointers to save Rain or Shine from falling to a 0-2 hole.
“That was really the play. I told him to attack in the last seven seconds, and there’s only 6.5 ticks left then,” said Guiao.
“We just grinded it out, stayed there, didn’t give up and toughed it out to the end,” Guiao added.
Reid also came through with 17 rebounds and four assists in a sterling performance he put up after winning the Best Import award over Blakely, Paul Harris and Henry Walker.
The Mixers wiped out a seven-point deficit and surged ahead, 71-66, on a 12-0 run at the start of the fourth quarter, but the E-Painters answered with their own key binge in the crunch to tie at 80-all.
Jeff Chan missed a three-pointer in the last 2.5 seconds, then the Mixers failed to get a decent shot in the dying seconds.
It was a nip-and-tuck battle from the start.
San Mig Coffee set the pace most of the first half but Rain or Shine came through with an 11-to-nothing run to surge ahead, 37-36, towards the end of the second period. (SB)
The scores:
RAIN OR SHINE 89 – Reid 29, Chan 14, Lee 12, Norwood 10, Cruz 8, Teng 7, Belga 4, Arana 3, Almazan 2, Tiu 0, Ibanes 0, Rodriguez 0.
SAN MIG SUPER COFFEE 87 – Yap 22, Pingris 17, Blakely 14, Simon 11, Mallari 7, Barroca 6, Sangalang 6, Melton 4, Maliksi 0, Devance 0, Reavis 0.
Quarterscores: 18-24, 37-37, 66-59, 80-80, 89-87
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