Rain or Shine takes game one from San Mig on Lee’s heroics

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Rain or Shine Elasto Painters head coach Yeng Guiao drew a game-winning play that was executed pristinely by guard Paul Lee to escape with an 83-80 victory in their first clash with the San Mig Super Coffee Mixers in the PLDT Home DSL Philippine Cup best-of-7 Finals on Friday, February 14 at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.

With 1.9 seconds remaining, Lee, who celebrated his 25th birthday today, received the inbound from
Gabe Norwood as Lee lost his defender Alex Mallari and cut to the basket for the quick two points, 82-80, leaving only 0.9 on the clock.

You gotta get lucky sometimes. –@GNorwood5 #PBAFinals #rstream pic.twitter.com/k2mFHUpNS6

— Jane Bracher (@janebracher) February 14, 2014

Lee then made a technical free throw after the Mixers were called for excessive timeouts to notch the final score.

“It’s just the first game, we got lucky at the end. We designed the play for Jeff (Chan) but it was Paul (Lee) who got open,” Guiao explained.

Lee was quiet the entire game, finishing with only 6 points. But he made the basket that mattered.

“Struggle ako buong game pero di pa rin ako nag-give up. Alam kong may mangyayari,” Lee said. “Birthday mo, so may mangyayari talaga. Now I can greet myself a happy birthday.” (I was struggling all game but I did not give up. I knew something was going to happen. It’s your birthday you know something’s going to happen.)

The two 2012 Governors’ Cup rivals battled toe-to-toe all throughout the match as Rain or Shine slowed down their pace, playing a defense-oriented game.

Pace picked up only towards the latter part of the fourth when Jeff Chan scored on two consecutive triples for a 6-0 swing favoring the Elasto Painters to give them a 78-76 edge with 2:40 left to play.

But James Yap, who turns 32 tomorrow, came up big in the clutch once again with 4 straight points on two long jumpers, both from almost the same spot on the floor and from an assist by Marc Pingris, to break the deadlock, 80-78, with 34.7 left.

But Rain or Shine would not be put away that easy as Jervy Cruz, who was still playing with a mask due to a broken nose, got a basket to trickle in following a Chan missed trey from the top of the key.

“For us it’s important to keep the game fast. It’s going to be a defensive series, low-scoring games like this one,” Guiao said.

“Winning the first game just gives you the adjustment advantage.”

Rain or Shine had only 7 fastbreak attempts for the entire game, from which they got 10 points.

But they were out-rebounded significantly by the Mixers, 55-44, and 20-10 on the offensive glass as the 2013 Governors’ Cup champions tried hard to shun exhaustion. San Mig Coffee extracted 18 points from their second chances at the basket.

The Mixers, however, weren’t able to buy baskets from 3-point land unlike in Game 7 of the semis. They shot a dismal 1-of-11 from that area for 9.1%.

For Mixers head coach Tim Cone, he commended Guiao for the “brilliant play” he designed that got them the victory.

“I feel really horrible,” Cone said. “That was all on me. Yeng (Guiao) just made a brilliant play down the stretch. That game was all on me. I feel bad for the guys because they really had to dig deep to come out with the energy they did.”

I feel really horrible. That was all on me. Yeng just made a brilliant play down the stretch. – Tim Cone #rstream pic.twitter.com/pUYgJwcXUG

— Jane Bracher (@janebracher) February 14, 2014

There will be only a one-day break for both teams as Game 2 will be played on Sunday, February 16.

Scores:

Rain or Shine (83): Belga 15, Cruz 15, Chan 8, Norwood 8, Rodriguez 7, Arana 6, Lee 6, Tang 5, Teng 5, Almazan 4, Quinahan 2, Nuyles 2, Tiu 0, Ibanes 0.

San Mig Super Coffee (80): Devance 17, Pingris 13, Simon 13, Yap 12, Barroca 9, Melton 6, Mallari 4, Reavis 4, Sangalang 2, De Ocampo 0.

Quarterscores: 20-15, 37-37, 60-59, 83-80.

– Rappler.com