Rain or Shine shoots for top seed vs NLEX: ‘We should not let this slip away’
Within reach of an outright Final Four berth, the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters try to take it in their final game in the Smart Bro PBA Philippine Cup eliminations versus the NLEX Road Warriors Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
“We work hard for this opportunity. We should not let this slip away,” said ROS coach Yeng Guiao on the eve of their 5:15 p.m. tussle.
The Elasto Painters will make things simple if they ward off the Road Warriors.
In such a case, the E-Painters guarantee themselves of playoff top seeding even if they find themselves in a three-way logjam with the Alaska Milk Aces and the San Miguel Beermen at 9-2 on the strength of their superior quotient.
If both Rain or Shine and Alaska lose their games versus NLEX and Barako Bull, the E-Painters and the Aces dispute the No. 2 berth on a playoff duel.
A win by Alaska and a loss by Rain or Shine, meanwhile, relegate the E-Painters to No. 3, needing to go through cutthroat two-stage quarterfinals.
“We’ll treat this game as if we’re already in the playoff stage. It’s an important game for us, a big game as this will decide our destiny in the next round,” said Guiao.
“All we need to do is get the win against NLEX for us to avoid such complicated scenario. We know it won’t be an easy game because just like other playoff situations, it will be a tough game,” Guiao also said. “But we’re ready for this game and we’re prepared for NLEX.”
At 4-6, NLEX is out of the running for the Top Six or twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
The Road Warriors, however, aren’t expected to take it easy as they need to build momentum for the playoffs.
They bombed out of the fight for the Top Six in losing their last four games against the Alaska Milk Aces (81-89), the Globalport Batang Pier (90-96), the San Miguel Beermen (80-88 in overtime) and the Barangay Ginebra Kings (90-91).
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