Hassan Adams did his part as import, and the young local crew of Rain or Shine was even more up to the challenge of facing a team that has in its line-up the league’s top two scorers to beat Powerade, 102-92, for a 3-0 start and the solo lead in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Sunday night at the Araneta Colizeum.

It was the first time in franchise history that the Painters went undefeated in their first three games in any PBA tournament since becoming part of the league in the 2006-07 season. The best start it had was 2-0 in the 2008-09 Philippine Cup.

The victory likewise was memorable, in a sense, for Guiao, who hasn’t experienced a three-game winning streak in two years or since the 2009 Fiesta Conference with Burger King.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been in this situation,” said Guiao.

“It’s nice to keep the win streak, so we’re just enjoying the moment and the wins. We know that one day it’s going to stop.”

It was just so bad for the Tigers that that day didn’t arrive Sunday.

Rain or Shine took charge from the start and led by as large as 16 points, a 53-37 lead the franchise took on a basket by rookie Jonathan Uyloan that turned out to be his first PBA career conversion.

That, in itself, was a testament how Guiao is confident fielding untested players against Powerade, whose pride at this time is having import Russel Carter, the No. 1 scorer (32.3 ppg), and Gary David, the leading scorer among the locals (20.3).

But Carter was held to only 17 points Sunday on 5-of-24 shooting from the field. He, however, had 18 rebounds.

Adams, for his part, finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds, and probably was aching to get back into the game when the Tigers made a dangerous run in the final period. Adams was rested with 1:05 left in the third period and returned with five minutes to go in the game, with the outcome well in control.

In the time when Adams was at the bench, though, the homegrown Painters crew displayed their mettle.

They didn’t flame out when Powerade threatened to within 83-80, thwarting the rally with a 7-0 run starring Gabriel Norwood, who scored five points in that blast.

As a result, Norwood, Larry Rodriguez, Doug Kramer and TY Tang all finished with conference highs in scoring. Rodriguez had 16, Norwood 14, Kramer 12 with 11 rebounds, and Tang 10.

David wound up with 24 points to lead the Tigers, who dropped to 1-3.

James Yap scored 25 points, including the killer three-point shot with 46.7 seconds to play as Derby Ace outlasted Ginebra, 96-89, in the nightcap.

Yap added 10 rebounds for his first double-double in five years since 2006, import Shamari Spears, stricken with flu three days before the game, added 21 points while PJ Simon contributed 20 as the Llamados won for the second straight time after starting out 0-2 (win-loss).

Spears, however, is expected to be replaced when Derby Ace meets Alaska on March 13. Cornelius ‘Scooter’ McFadgon, who once played for Barako Bull, will take his spot, if ever.

“They key in the game was that we had to sustain our offense but saw to it that we keep up the pressure on defense,” said Llamados’ coach Jorge Gallent. “In our losses, we’ve been allowing our opponents to score more than 90 points.”

Derby Ace held the Kings, now 1-2 (win-loss), to 31-of-91 shooting (34.1 percent) from the field, scoring the victory despite losing a 17-point lead (26-9) and staring at an 81-74 deficit with 7:04 remaining in the match.

Nate Brumfield poured in 29 points and pulled down 15 rebounds for Ginebra, which lost for the second straight time since a 113-98 win over Meralco on opening day. Mark Caguioa added 16 points while Willy Wilson and Rudy Hatfield each contributed 10 points and combined for 16 rebounds.

Towards the homestretch, the Llamados outscored the Kings, 22-8, with Spears and Simon each having six in a performance that demonstrated how powerful Derby Ace is even when the enemy is ahead.

But it was not until Yap knocked in the three-point shot that Derby Ace heaved a big sigh of relief. He got away from defender Ronald Tubid with a step-back move, and then launched the attempt from the top of the key before the crowd witnessed in bated breath the ball rattling in.