Rain or Shine gets back at Talk ‘N Text in a big way

What a way for Rain or Shine to finally beat Talk ‘N Text.
With Bruno Sundov scoring 14 first quarter points, the Rain or Shine offense hummed on all cylinders all night as the Elasto Painters ripped the Tropang Texters apart, 116-85, for a piece of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup lead at the Araneta Coliseum.
It was the first win for the Painters against the Texters in seven games this season, counting Talk ‘N Text’s immortal 4-0 sweep of Rain or Shine in the Philippine Cup Finals just over three months ago.
But coach Yeng Guiao swore that being winless against Talk ‘N Text this season wasn’t a motivating factor for them. Nor was it in their minds all night.
“I was kind of aware of that,” Guiao said of their 0-6 record against the Texters. “I think it would have helped us more, psychologically, if we didn’t think about it.”
Guiao said that a couple of things led to the rout.
First, it was the fact that the Texters were coming off a tough win against Petron Blaze where they had to erase a six-point deficit with 37 seconds left in regulation. And second, the fiery Rain or Shine coach pointed out to the stats sheets that revealed the Painters shooting 53% from the field.
“We got lucky, I don’t think we can shoot that well every night,” Guiao said humbly. “We shot the ball pretty well today and coupled with Talk ‘N Text being tired, we kind of had our way tonight.”
Rain or Shine led by as many as 36 points late in the third period after two Gabe Norwood triples and Guiao started clearing his bench with still eight minutes left when it was obvious that the Texters had nothing more to give to mount a rally.
Sundov finished with 27 points after making all two of his triple tries, eight of his 10 two-point attempts and missing just one of six free throw opportunities.
Norwood had four triples, Paul Lee and Jeff Chan two each as the Painters converted 12 total triple tries.
Jason Castro paced the Texters with 19 points and Donnell Harvey had 17 and 13 boards as Talk ‘N Text dropped to a level 5-5 again, now tied with Barangay Ginebra, Air21 and San Mig Coffee for fourth spot.
The Gin Kings showed little need for the injured Mark Caguioa earlier in the night, getting the goods from Vernon Macklin and LA Tenorio in a 96-89 decision of Barako Bull.
Macklin scored 33 points and had 22 rebounds and Tenorio backed him up solidly with 27 markers, seven boards and four assists as the Kings won a fourth straight game and dealt Barako Bull a sixth straight loss in a 3-7 card.
Caguiao has a slight MCL tear in his left knee and could be out for two weeks.
The reigning MVP was averaging close to 23 points a contest before getting injured in the last Ginebra game, but Macklin and Tenorio made sure that they had all the offensive holes taken cared of against the Energy.
Macklin was just an overpowering presence underneath for Ginebra, with 12 of those 22 rebounds coming off the offensive end. He scored 12 points off those boards.
Ginebra also won despite missing 27 free throw attempts, the most misses by any team in the league in the last 10 seasons or so. Macklin accounted for 14 of those misses, converting just nine times on 23 bonuses.
Allein Maliksi, a sweet shooting swingman who started his PBA career with Ginebra last season, finished with a career-high 22 points to lead the Energy, who will need nothing less than a sweep of their remaining four games to have a solid shot at making the playoffs.