PBA Fastbreak: Elasto Painters live to ‘shine’ another day

Rain or Shine over San Mig Coffee, 81-74

The Best: In front of more than 20,000 fans in the Araneta Coliseum, Gilas gunner Jeff Chan struck hard in the second half, scoring 23 of his 24 points as the Rain or Shine Elasto-Painters disrupted all plans of San Mig’s Game 5 title celebration. Chan started, once again, struggling from the field, scoring just 1 point in the first two quarters, but he found his mark and went on a hot streak in the third period, where the Painters took the lead for the first time since the early goings, 48-46. It was a nip-tuck affair all the way till the end, but Chan and Paul Lee hit a couple of tough shots to preserve the big win for RoS.

The Worst: This time around, coach Tim Cone’s frontline combo didn’t produce as much as they had in the past few games. With the exception of Marc Pingris, who ended up with 18 points and 15 rebounds, SMC’s frontcourt struggled big time. Ian Sangalang, Yancy De Ocampo and Rafi Reavis all combined for just 6 points and 10 rebounds. The trio shot a total of just 1/7 from the floor. Even 6-foot-7 swingman Joe Devance had a tough time here, shooting just 3/12 from the field to finish with 7 markers. 

Turning the Tables: Rain or Shine stepped up its defense in this do-or-die affair, forcing 19 turnovers from the Mixers. RoS then converted these into 20 points-off-turnovers. This is in stark contrast to the previous game, where the Painters were the ones coughing up the ball with impunity. Coach Yeng Guiao’s bench also finally stepped into the spotlight in this encounter, with his top three scorers — Chan, Beau Belga, and Chris Tiu — all playing off the pine. RoS also did a splendid job limiting SMC’s weapons, with PJ Simon attempting just 2 field goals and rookies Ian Sangalang and Justin Melton being bottled up most of the night. – Rappler.co