But surprisingly enough, coaches of both highly-regarded squads talked with disgust at how it happened.

“I am really happy with the win, but I am not happy with the way we played,” Alaska’s Tim Cone told reporters shortly after his Aces eked out an 88-80 victory over a lethargic Rain or Shine squad at the Cuneta Astrodome.

“Our standards are higher than that,” the multi-titled coach explained. “We need to be a better team than what we are right now because if we play Talk ’N Text, San Miguel and (Barangay) Ginebra, the way we are playing won’t get it done.” Cone was man enough to admit that they got all the breaks they needed in rising to 3-0.

“We were very sloppy and I felt we were playing a blowout,” he said. “We were just lucky that they (Elasto Painters) missed some shots here and there in the endgame.” Chot Reyes was a lot more vocal – and fuming – when he went to the press room for the customary winning coach’s interview.

“We just played stupid, stupid basketball in the second half,” the firebrand mentor opened up shortly after almost blowing a 24-point first half lead to prevail via a tight 92-84 scoreline over Meralco.

“I am so upset with my players right now I can’t even describe it.” The Tropang Texters, who took the last of those leads at 47-23 with 3:27 left in the first half, looked so fluid in the first two quarters but almost fell apart completely in the final two, needing a big endgame to fend off the challenge of the Bolts to stay undefeated.

“I couldn’t even recognize my team in the second half,” Reyes added. “I will definitely get in the faces of my players (after this interview) because we can’t afford to play games like that.

“I don’t ever, ever want to see us playing halves like that again.” Joe Devance scattered 24 points, plucked down 12 rebounds and won a third straight Player of the Game award even as Cyrus Baguio chipped in with 20 markers and Sonny Thoss dominated at the center position with 11 points, 16 rebounds and six assists for Alaska.

Sp pathetic were the Elasto Painters that the 10 points each that came from three players were enough to lead the squad.

“Maybe we were fatigued in the last game,” explained the Grand Slam-winning coach, whose wards were 6-0 in opening up this tournament last year before making the Finals and eventually losing in four straight games to Derby Ace.

“But they (Painters) were fatigued as well. I think we’re not in playoff form right now and we should be in playoff level all the time.” The Painters absorbed their second loss in three games, not showing signs of the team that pounded out an 89-86 victory over Air21 Wednesday night.

And for the second straight edition of this tournament, despite a formidable lineup, Rain or Shine has failed to start at least with a 2-1 record in its first three games.

Meanwhile, defending champion Derby Ace and Air21 lock horns Saturday in a road game slated at the Naga City Coliseum with both seeking to win for the first time. Only the Llamados and the Express remain winless in the 10-team field.

Larry Fonacier came off the bench to hit 5-of-6 triple attempts and pace the Texters with 20 points.

His biggest basket for the night came at the 1:37 mark when, coming off a timeout, he worked his way to an opening by using an Ali Peek screen to launch the last of those treys and give the Texters an 89-79 lead.

But the Bolts wouldn’t just roll over and die after that as Asi Taulava hit five straight points that had Meralco threatening for the last time at 84-90 with still over 30 seconds left only for Jimmy Alapag to seal the deal with two free throws with 26.8 seconds left.