It’s surprising that some ball clubs still fall into the Tropang Texters’ trap.

The Grand Slam-seeking team exploded for 70 points the first half, before gliding its way to a 120-108 demolition job of Rain or Shine, claiming a piece of the lead in the PBA Governors’ Cup Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

On a night when rains fell to provide a long-awaited shift on the humid weather, the Texters dropped their own kind of mizzle behind two players who barely missed registering triple-doubles, and those whose roles were to provide back-ups did their part well as Talk ‘N Text recorded a second straight lopsided victory after dealing Alaska its

worst loss in nine years (101-75) last Wednesday.

“Well, it’s obvious that they tried to engage us in a running game and in a shoot-out,” said Texters coach Chot Reyes’ of the Painters’ strategy. “And I told the players that I will be damned if they beat us in our own game.”

Import Maurice Baker had 22 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists, while Jason Castro, rising to the challenge of stepping up in the absence of the injured Jimmy Alapag (twisted right foot), collected 22 points, eight rebounds and eight assists as Talk ‘N Text clearly remains on course of winning a third consecutive championship in a

single season – a feat only three franchises have accomplished in the past.

Petron, meantime, recorded its first back-to-back win since the Philippine Cup Finals, beating Ginebra, 100-89.

Jeremy Wise bounced back from a four-point performance in the first half to finish with 21 points, the same production submitted by Rabeh Al-Hussaini as the Boosters looked sharp and confident of turning their fortunes around after missing the playoffs in the Commissioner’s Cup.

Petron last won successive games against Talk ‘N Text in Games Three and Four of the Philippine Cup title series. The Boosters had a hard time amassing a winning streak since then, especially after trading Dondon Hontiveros, Danny Seigle, Dorian Pena and Paul Artadi to Air21.

“I think the hard work in our team building is paying off,” said Petron coach Ato Agustin. “It all starts with defense, and much has improved as far as ball movement is concerned.”

Curtis Stinson scored 22 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and seven assists for Ginebra, which was outscored, 63-45, in the middle periods. Al-Hussaini had 17 points in that stretch.

The Kings thus were denied of gaining a share of the lead, dropping to 1-1 in a tie with sister-team B-Meg.  

Rain or Shine actually led, 20-12, early in the game. But as soon as Reyes fielded his well-rested bench against the Painters’ worn out starters, the complexion of the game shifted.

From there, Talk ‘N Text stepped on the tempo further and unloaded a 17-3 blast, taking a 29-23 lead. The Texters were not finish and had their largest advantage late in the second period at 70-48 on a basket by Ali Peek.

“Jason, Larry (Fonacier), Ali and Harvey (Carey) did a lot of damage for us today,” Reyes said. “It was actually our second unit that got us back into the game.”

Ranidel de Ocampo contributed 18 points and nine rebounds, and Ryan Reyes, Fonacier and Peek combined for 34 points for Talk ‘N Text.

Arizona Reid, Rain or Shine’s import who Reyes regarded as one of the two best imports around aside from Ginebra’s Curtis Stinson, scattered 27 points and pulled down 14 rebounds while Larry Rodriguez has 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Reyes, however, feels that they shouldn’t be in any way satisfied with the pair of convincing wins this early in the tournament.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” he said. “We gave up 108 points, which is just too much. The only thing we can work on at this time is to constantly keep on getting better.”

“Right now, our biggest threat is ourselves,” Baker, for his part, said.