MANILA: Rain or Shine hit Barangay Ginebra where it is weakest, and the Elasto Painters just extended the longest active streak in Final Four appearances in the PBA to nine on Tuesday night.

“I guess it was our speed,” Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao answered when asked what his Elasto Painters did right in posting a 102-89 victory to sweep the Gin Kings in their best-of-three quarterfinal duel in the Commissioner’s Cup before a disappointed pro-Ginebra crowd at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

“We (members of the coaching staff) kept emphasizing to them (Elasto Painters) that Ginebra cannot run with us,” Guiao went on. “We also know that we can’t beat that team playing a halfcourt set.”

The win closed out the series, 2-0 and put the Elasto Painters in their ninth straight semifinal appearance, which will either be against San Miguel Beer or Star starting Sunday at the earliest.

“We take pride in that,” Guiao said of the streak. “We are the most consistent team in the league.”

Jeff Chan started out this time and hit his first three tries from three-point land, jumpstarting the Rain or Shine offense that didn’t show signs of slowing down as the Painters played what could have been their best game of the tournament thus far.

Even Guiao was surprised that they shut out the Gin Kings, who had the advantage in size but couldn’t use it after being caught flat-footed for most of the night.

Chan also finished strong with 10 of his 22 coming in the fourth period and JR Quinahan scattered 21 with rookie point guard Maverick Ahanmisi tallying 13 as the trio made up for the paltry output of import Pierre Henderson-Niles.

Henderson-Niles contributed in some other ways for the Painters, as he used his heft to make life difficult for the 7-foot Greg Slaugher, with the rest of the Rain or Shine defense making life hard for the other gunners of Ginebra.

Othyus Jeffers did make 27 points, but it was a total the Guiao was willing to give up since his support cast – Slaughter and the 6-foot-9 Japeth Aguilar shooting just 14 each – not being able to dominate the entire night.

“Jeffers made his points, but he had to bleed for them,” Guiao said. “That what we wanted to happen also.”

Guiao stuck to a speedy unit all throughout the game and never trailed after Chan made the second of those three triples for a 6-4 lead.

“We were ready to go three games with them,” Guiao said when asked of the sweep. “But it was a hard struggle, a pretty tough game.”

Rain or Shine connected on 11-of-33 three-pointers, while Ginebra made just 3-for-17, a big disparity considering the firepower that the Gin Kings also pack.

The Elasto Painters thus joined Meralco in the Final Four with either the Beermen or the Hotshots becoming the third team in after Wednesday night’s KO contest also at the Big Dome.

Alaska forged a do-or-die game with defending champion Tropang TNT in the other best-of-three series after scoring an 85-81 victory in the nightcap.

Robert Dozier had 18 points and Calvin Abueva and Sonny Thoss each chipped in with 15 for the Aces, who won their first playoff game in the last six tries dating back to the final four matches against San Miguel in the Philippine Cup Finals.

The Aces actually blew a 13-point lead in the third period and watched with bated breath when Troy Rosario had a wide-open three-point attempt from deep right corner with under three seconds remaining and Alaska protecting an 83-81 lead.

“Boy, my heart dropped to the fifth level of the basement parking lot when Troy was left open in that play,” Alaska coach Alex Compton said as Rosario, who hit seven triples in a Game 1 win on Sunday night, had that shot to turn things around.

“But we held TNT to 81 points, and that speaks volumes of the way we played defense,” Compton said. “I just wish that we could do it again on Friday.”

The rubber match of this series will be on Friday night.