PETRON BRINGS DOWN RAIN OR SHINE
With unhampered preparation even at the height of the storm-enhanced monsoon rains, Petron Blaze was impressive in pulling off a dominant win over reigning champ Rain or Shine in the PBA Governors Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Friday night.
The Boosters outworked and outplayed the Elasto Painters from the get-go to the finish, hacking out a lopsided 99-84 win over the previously unbeaten Elasto Painters.
Elijah Millsap turned in his most productive performance in three games with 33 points and 13 rebounds and the rest of the Petron Blaze team had their share, helping coach Gie Abanilla win his first duel with former mentor Yeng Guiao.
“Aakapin ko sana kaya lang masungit, kaya kinamayan ko na lang,” said Abanilla in jest.
“Matagal ko rin siyang nakasama at madami akong natutuhan sa kanya. I like the way he makes adjustments in the game. I try to imitate a little of what I learned from him and some other coaches,” Abanilla also said.
Abanilla and his troops scored a follow-up on their 101-95 win over the Barangay Ginebra Kings Sunday and forged a tie at second place with the Elasto Painters and the Globalport Batang Pier at 2-1.
“We’re a bit lucky. First, we had a decent defense and at the same time they’re not making their open shots. They’re still out of shape with their Gilas players Jeff Chan, Gabe Norwood and Beau Belga just coming in,” said Abanilla.
“We’re also lucky we’re able to sneak in good practice sessions despite the storm,” Abanilla added.
Millsap played his best game so far in the local pro league, more than holding his own against former Best Import awardee Arizona Reid.
The Petron reinforcement went 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, 10-of-19 from the two-point zone and 4-of-4 from the stripe, and also got four steals, three assists against five turnovers in 41 minutes of action.
Reid, meanwhile, got 30 points, 14 rebounds, two assist, one steal and one block against four errors in 38 minutes.
Alex Cabagnot contributed 16 points and 11 rebounds while Arwind Santos and Junmar Fajardo chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively, as the Boosters roared to a second straight win after dropping their first game in the season-ending conference against the Meralco Bolts.
The Boosters stormed out of the gate, led by 20, 56-36, at the half and were hardly threatened through the last two quarters of play.
Petron beat Rain or Shine practically on all fronts, punishing the Elasto Painters on the run and on halfcourt set.
The Elasto Painters outscored the Boosters just in the third quarter at 32-25 to get to within 13 at 68-81.
But Marcio Lassiter scored on a drive then Millsap rifled in a trey to start the fourth, and the rout went on. (SB)
The scores:
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