TAIPEI: Call it the calm before the storm.

Gilas Pilipinas manhandled Japan late in the second half on Wednesday night and primed itself up for a titanic collision with Iran in less than 24 hours in which could go down as the championship match for the 37th Jones Cup at the Xinzhuang gymnasium here.

Terrence Romeo and Moala Tautuaa, a couple of national team rookies, presided upon a crippling 20-4 run bridging the third and fourth periods that knocked the wind out of Japan’s sails for a 75-60 ripping carved out before a boisterous gallery made up of a lot of Filipino overseas workers.

“It’s the best basketball we played,” said national coach Tab Baldwin. “We’re getting better, but we’re not good enough yet to win the Fiba-Asia, and that’s the ultimate target.”

Iran is up next at 1 p.m. on Thursday and whoever wins will most likely go on to pocket the title under league format that awards the championship to the team with the best record after the eliminations.

The Iranians also prepared for the Filipinos, but in a very different way.

Iran, a multiple winner of this event and the reigning Asian champion, didn’t play 7-foot-2 NBA veteran Hamed Haddadi and lost to the United States, 81-66, for a 4-1 card, still good enough to lead but now within the Filipinos’ reach.

Spartak Primorye of Russia, which Gilas mangled on Tuesday night in a very physical match, also rose to 4-1 after scoring a 97-67 destruction of the young Chinese Taipei-B squad.

If the Filipinos upset the Iranians and then end up tied with either Iran, Chinese Taipei-A and the Russians after the elimination round, Gilas would still win the championship because of the winner-over-the-other rule.

Gilas will still play the Americans, Taipei-B, and the Wellington Saints of New Zealand to complete its eight-game schedule.

South Korea, the only side to beat the Philippines thus far, improved to 3-2 later after shooting down the Saints, 74-70, which formally knocked Wellington out of the title race.

The United States, despite the win, is at 2-3 and with no chance to win the title.

A different group of American showcase talents was the team that Gilas defeated in overtime in 2012 to clinch the title then. The American team that is here now is a lot less talented, though beefy and tall.

“We went out and played as a team. That’s the most important part,” said Tautuaa, the first overall choice in the last PBA Draft who will see action for Talk ‘N Text at the start of the 41st Season on Oct. 18.

“We’re slowly clicking together. We’re working more fluidly together,” added Tautuaa, a 6-foot-7 banger who will only be eligible to play as a Filipino internationally in the Asian Games or the Southeast Asian Games.

Joji Takeuchi, the veteran Japanese superstar, led his side with 15 points and 13 rebounds.

The Japanese remained winless after four starts.

Meanwhile, the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas also on Wednesday said that it will try to reach out to Rain or Shine again for the Elasto Painters to release super point guard Paul Lee to the Gilas program.

Lee is the second player whom SBP vice-chairman Ricky Vargas said is needed by Gilas after June Mar Fajardo was mentioned on Tuesday.

Fajardo, the reigning two-time PBA MVP, held out because of plantar fasciatis on both feet. Vargas said that Gilas would be willing to wait, the same privilege that the SBP is giving Lee.

“We need consistent outside shooting and Lee can give Gilas that type of player,” Vargas said before leaving for the United States on Wednesday afternoon to talk to the Los Angeles Lakers about Jordan Clarkson’s stint with the PH Five in the Fiba-Asia in China later this month.