The expectations have now gone higher for Rain or Shine.

Using total team effort on both ends, the Elasto Painters on Friday night rallied to post a 111-105 triumph over Alaska at the Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, gaining, in the process, the inside track on one of two automatic Final Four berths in the PBA Philippine Cup playoffs.

From simply shooting to land in the upper half of the standings for the first round of the quarterfinals because superstar quarterback Paul Lee is sidelined by a knee injury, coach Yeng Guiao openly revealed their new “goal” after improving to 7-2 overall and pulling the Aces down into a second place tie.

“That’s our new objective now – to make the semifinals outright,” Guiao told scribes after getting 17 points from big Beau Belga and double digits from six others.

And that statement was made with Lee to continue sitting it out.

“We’re playing well without him (Lee), we might not need him anymore,” Guiao said with a laugh as his Elasto Painters have exceeded all pre-tournament expectations that ranked them in the middle of the pack with Lee injured.

“(Before the start of the tournament) we scaled down our expectations,” he said. “We were just trying to buy time for Paul to come back. If we make the semifinals outright, it would be best for the team, and best for Paul.”

Lee, the former Rookie of the Year, had is brace removed earlier in the week and is doing light therapy. “I want him to come back in the semifinals, if it is possible.”

Rain or Shine was able to snap Alaska’s four-game winning streak despite a poor showing from the free throw line. The Elasto Painters also bounced back from a listless loss to Talk ‘N Text a few nights before.

“We made that (loss to the Tropang Texters) a learning game for us,” Guiao said.

Rain or Shine closed out with 14 unanswered points in the third quarter to make it an 81-all game going into the fourth, before the Painters’ defense shut down the usually efficient Aces when it mattered most in the stretch.

Alaska went without a field goal for exactly three minutes after taking a 97-94 lead with 4:57 left courtesy of a Vic Manuel basket as the Painters dropped a 10-1 bomb to surge to a 104-98 lead going into the final 2:15.

The next Alaska basket, also coming from Manuel, came at the 1:57 mark, but it was clear that the Painters already had momentum and their defense finally figured out what to do on the Aces’ chief guns.

Manuel finished with a career-high 24 points, with Cyrus Baguio shooting 14 and Calvin Abueva 10 for Alaska, which has a tough final two games in San Miguel Beer and Barako Bull.

San Miguel shoots for at least a playoff for one of those two berths on Saturday at 5:15 p.m. when the Beermen lock horns with the Tropang Texters.

A win by San Miguel and a sweep by Rain or Shine of its final two games would put both teams directly into the semifinals.

The situation could become muddled if Alaska beats the Beermen on Dec. 16 since they could ultimately end up in a three-way tie for the lead with the Painters.

Rain or Shine, in that scenario, would be No. 1 after beating both the Beermen and the Aces in the eliminations, leaving San Miguel and Alaska to slug it out in a KO match for No. 2.

Meanwhile, Carlo Lastimosa rewrote his career-high with 38 points and led Blackwater to a 116-92 plastering of Barako Bull in the first game.

The Elite, who also got a career game from rookie Art dela Cruz with 25 markers, improved to 2-7 and put themselves in contention for a first-ever playoff appearance.

Barako Bull was without the injured RR Garcia and was far from the team that gave all of the heavyweights a tough time throughout the round. Already in the quarters, the Energy, now at 4-5, would have to sweep their last two games in order to have a chance at availing of the twice-to-beat privilege.