Now the Elasto Painters have cemented themselves as genuine contenders.
Ronjay Buenafe scattered 12 fourth-quarter points and rookie Paul Lee once again came through with a balanced performance as Rain or Shine plastered Barako Bull, 93-81, to register a season-best fifth straight win in the PBA Philippine Cup Friday night at the Cuneta Astrodome.
Buenafe scored six straight points when the Energy drastically slashed what was once a 22-point lead to within four, before Lee took charge with his calm offensive orchestration as the Painters collected their seventh win with only a loss to still pace the field in the standings.
"We came into this game with a lot of respect for Barako," said Painters' coach Yeng Guiao, the former mentor of the Energy. "We prepared for them and we knew it would be a difficult game. I think we can only get better.
"We're very happy with the way we're playing. It's a very fragile situation once you relax and make mistakes. It could all crumble."
Guiao usually turns out to be the one who gets called for technical fouls and ejected. But in this match, it was the other way around.
Junel Baculi, the former assistant coach of Guiao with Burger King, was thrown out on two technical fouls. He was whistled for his second 'T' with 8:56 remaining in the final period.
"He (Baculi) was a big loss to them in the end," Guiao said. "Nagulat ako naunahan ako ma-thrown out. Ngayon lang nangyari sa buhay ko ito."
Buenafe ended up with 16 points and Jireh Ibanes had 11 for Rain or Shine, which has never made it to the Finals since entering the league in 2006.
Barako Bull, thus, suffered its third defeat in eight games, but still maintained its position at third spot behind the Painters and Talk 'N Text (6-1).
Next up for Rain or Shine is another franchise that will test its mettle - Petron.
"We have never thought of Petron yet," Guiao said. "We'll think about that Saturday in practice." B-Meg earlier beat Meralco, picking up its first-ever back-to-back win under its new head coach Tim Cone.
Two-time MVP James Yap scored 11 first-quarter points to set for the Llamados the tone of the match, before the star-studded franchise thwarted a rally by the Bolts in the second half to book its fourth win in eight games.
"This is the time that we have to make our move," said Cone after the game. "We can't lag too far back and expect to catch anybody."
Yap finished with 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting, PJ Simon had 17 and Kerby Raymundo 15 for B-Meg, which led by as many as 53-31 late in the second quarter. Marc Pingris contributed 12 rebounds and nine points.
The closest margin the Bolts could come within to was at 71-66, and Meralco could have cut it more. But rookie Jason Ballesteros, surprised that he was left open just in front of the basket, missed the lay-up.
Raymundo then responded with a low-post basket that triggered a 10-2 run to make it an 81-78 ball game.
Gabby Espinas paced the Bolts, fresh from a 93-87 win over Ginebra, with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Asi Taulava had 14 points and 13 rebounds.
"In the second half Meralco came up with lots of energy and James exploded and took over the game just like great players do," said Cone. "But overall it was a great team performance. Everybody contributed with defense." While not necessarily known as a running ball club, B-Meg got 18 points off the break in a game where both teams fared miserably at the free-throw line.
The Llamados and the Bolts combined for 25 missed shots at the charity stripe, with Meralco just converting 19 of its 35 attempts.
