MANILA: Talk 'N Text import Ivan Johnson was back in his elements, and Rain or Shine made the most out of it.

With Johnson severely out of game focus on Sunday night, the Elasto Painters shook off a wobbly first quarter and controlled the action the rest of the way, scoring a 101-93 victory to take their PBA Commissioner’s Cup title series to a deciding Game 7 at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Johnson was a liability more than anything for the Tropang Texters, scoring just six points and grabbing just the same number of rebounds on a night he spent most of giving cheap shots and trying to pick fights with most of Rain or Shine’s stalwarts.

And Rain or Shine coach Yeng Guiao, never one to hold back, shot a haymaker directly aimed at the volatile Talk 'N Text import.

“I think he is mentally unstable,” Guiao said as he pointed out to the number of things that Johnson did, not just in this game, but in the entire series. “And I think that is working to our advantage.”

Wayne Chism scored 18 points and had 24 rebounds and Raymond Almazan was the second frontliner with a double-double for Guiao with 18 and 10 as the Elasto Painters wrested psychological edge going into the 24th Game 7 of a title series in PBA history.

Talk 'N Text coach Jong Uichico was quick to shrug off Johnson’s pathetic performance as something that just “happened,” even if it was clear that his import was of little help in the fourth when the Tropang Texters tried turning things around one final time.

Ranidel de Ocampo fired 21 points and Jason Castro 17 as Talk 'N Text’s top locals went about their business as usual only to fall short.

Talk 'N Text does not have a very glittering resume when it comes to Game 7s.

The Texters have won just one of six such games in their franchise, with the only win coming in the 2008-2009 Philippine Cup under Chot Reyes when they came back from a 2-3 deficit to clip Alaska.

Rain or Shine and Guiao, meanwhile, won the only Game 7 they were in, a lopsided decision of Purefoods, then San Mig Coffee, in the Governors’ Cup Finals in 2012 when Jamelle Cornley reinforced the team.

Guiao also won the only other time he was in a Game 7, steering Red Bull to the 2002 Commissioner’s Cup diadem after also rallying from a 2-3 deficit.

“It all boils down to a Game 7, a game for all the marbles,” a dejected Uichico told reporters. “You have to give Rain or Shine credit for the adjustments they made.”

Johnson was lucky to have finished the game, getting away with just a regular foul after hitting Paul Lee in the face with an open hand while the Rain or Shine guard was driving to the basket.

Lee, who lost a tooth with a Johnson elbow in Game 2, made a free throw off that Johnson foul with 3:37 remaining that made it 90-82, before Almazan scored on a breakaway dunk that all but put the game to bed for the Painters with 3:17 left.

Guiao again took a shot at the league for allowing that Johnson foul to go without a harsh penalty.

“What will it take for them (referees) to call a flagrant (foul on Johnson?” Guiao asked. “He (Johnson) wasn’t even after the ball. He knew he would get Paul’s face.”

There were a lot of men that stepped up for the Painters, including an injured one in Jeff Chan, who played through a lot of pain in his right foot to shoot 11 points built around two triples.

Chan missed the previous two games – both Rain or Shine losses – because of plantar fasciatis. He called up Guiao on Saturday night asking that he be able to get a chance to help the team’s cause.

And Guiao was only too willing to oblige, playing the left-handed gunslinger for close to 12 minutes despite a very obvious limp.

The Game 7 of this series is slated on Wednesday night also at the Big Dome and Uichico will be seeking to improve a 1-2 record ad make his coaching comeback a successful one.