RAIN OR SHINE and Talk ‘N Text eye easy routes to the semifinals as they try to finish off their respective quarterfinal-round opponents on Saturday in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Armed with a twice-to-beat advantage for finishing in the top two after the elimination phase, the Elasto Painters and the Tropang Texters go for the clinchers against Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and Barako Bull, respectively, to advance to the best-of-five semifinal series.
The top seed Rain or Shine side squares off with the Kings at 5:15 p.m., while the second-seed Talk ‘N Text battles Barako Bull at 3 in the afternoon.
The Elasto Painters-Ginebra encounter promises to be the hot commodity in the day’s double-header following what transpired in their previous meeting in the elimination round.
Rain or Shine prevailed in that contest, 82-79, in a very physical match that resulted to heavy fines on Elasto Painters Beau Belga and Raymund Almazan. They were fined a total of P110,000, while Kings center Dorian Pena was also meted a P10,000 penalty.
The wards of Head Coach Yeng Guiao clinched the top seeding with a clinical 119-99 demolition of Kia last March 22.
“That gave us a few days break to refresh and recover. We’ve been breaking our injured players,” said Guiao as they enter the match with a six-day respite.
Ginebra is hurting from a tough 98-104 loss to Alaska last Wednesday that put the Kings in a twice-to-beat disadvantage, instead of playing in the best-of-three series.
The Kings’ loss gave the Energy of Coach Koy Banal a free entry to the next phase, but they also need to win two in a row against the tough Talk ‘N Text.
The Tropang Texters claimed the second seed, following a 101-93 win over Alaska in a game marred by the shouting match between Talk ‘N Text import Ivan Johnson and Aces Coach Alex Compton.
Talk ‘N Text Head Coach Jong Uichico said they can’t take Barako Bull lightly as it is capable of winning two in a row.
“We just got the twice-to-beat advantage. At least we’ve got probability on our side,” Uichico said.
Joel Orellana