What light assignment?

Though he didn’t really go on to ask, it seemed like it was what Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao wanted to blurt out after going through the proverbial eye of the needle before nipping Barangay Ginebra in the quarterfinal match up of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup that featured No. 1 going up against the lowest-ranked side.

The Elasto Painters got the goods from Jeff Chan on both ends in the dying seconds on Saturday night for a 92-91 victory over the Gin Kings that put Rain or Shine in the Final Four of the import-spice conference at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.

Chan stole off Ginebra import Michael Dunigan and went all the way for an unmolested layup for the marginal basket with 4.6 seconds remaining as Rain or Shine averted going into a do-or-die match against the legendary team that has made comebacks its calling card.

“We got lucky tonight,” said Guiao in opening up the customary winning coach’s interview.

“We are No. 1 but we had a tough road,” the outspoken Guiao continued after surviving the first playoff match that was in the balance until the literal last second. “We were supposed to have a light assignment, but Ginebra is not a light assignment.

“It didn’t feel like we had an advantage playing them,” Guiao added. “They were a top team and I am glad that it’s over.”

As a top two team, Rain or Shine needed to defeat the Gin Kings just once to march on, and Ginebra made the Painters work hard for it, very hard, actually.

Unlike Rain or Shine, Talk ‘N Text, the other team owning a twice-to-beat privilege, hardly worked up a sweat earlier in the afternoon in blowing Barako Bull to kingdom come, 127-97, to also make the Final Four.

The one-sided victory of the Tropang Texters basically followed the trend of the first two games of the quarterfinals, which saw Purefoods annihilate Alaska and Meralco utterly dominate NLEX at the start of their respective best-of-three series on Friday.

And just when everyone had expected Rain or Shine to have the same route came the exact opposite, with Ginebra still having a chance to extend its series to a KO match when Jay-Jay Helterbrand, a former MVP, had the ball in the final 4.6 ticks.

But Helterbrand, who also had a couple of crucial baskets in the fourth, couldn’t shake off Gabe Norwood going to the basket and threw up a wild looping layup that hit the top of the backboard for a violation that left six-tenths of a second on the clock.

It was all over but the shouting there.

While Rain or Shine advanced like many expected, the Gin Kings bowed out early yet again. In the Philippine Cup, Ginebra, which boasts of a towering lineup headed by Greg Slaughter and Japeth Aguilar, finished sixth and management decided to fire Jeffrey Cariaso and re-appointed Ato Agustin as head coach.

With their newest early exit, it would be worth waiting for developments that could happen to the Kings’ camp.

Chan, import Wayne Chism and second-year center Raymond Almazan each scored 17 points to lead the Painters, who will await the winner of the NLEX-Meralco series in a best-of-five semifinal series.

The Bolts, as well as the defending champion Star Hotshots, go for the jugular Sunday as action returns to the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Chan scored eight of his total in the fourth period counting a triple that made it 90-87 for the Painters, while Almazan held his own against the taller and beefier Slaughter with five clutch points in the payoff frame.

“Raymond (Almazan) played like a veteran, 20 pounds lighter but he kept on fighting – that’s a sign of maturity,” Guiao said in praise of his 6-foot-7 center out of collegiate power Letran in the NCAA.

Meanwhile, the Tropang Texters took the fight out of the Energy early, shooting 43 points in the first quarter and closing out the half with a 75-point output to bury Barako Bull to a hole so deep.

Ivan Johnson and Jason Castro and the rest of the Talk ‘N Text starters were rested for majority of the second half – and the entire fourth quarter – as coach Jong Uichico started preparing his team for the Final Four against either Purefoods or Alaska.