Rain or Shine racked up its sixth straight win by clipping Converge, 112-111, Sunday as the Elasto Painters formally entered the playoffs of the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
But the victory didn’t come on a silver platter as Rain or Shine had to wait for a misfire from the FiberXers in the final play to finally heave a sigh of relief.
King Caralipio made it a one-point game thanks to a triple then the E-Painters lost the ball and gave Converge a chance to steal the game in the dying seconds.
Import Tree Treadwell led the way for Rain or Shine with 21 points and 17 rebounds to shove the squad to a quarterfinal pairing either against Phoenix Super LPG or San Miguel, pending the result of the second game between the Fuel Masters and TNT Tropang Giga that was being played at press time.
With a 6-5 win-loss record, Rain or Shine will be at a disadvantage against the Fuel Masters or the Beermen, who would be armed with twice-to-beat advantages against the E-Painters.
“Beware of what you wished for, so we leave it all up to them whichever team we’ll be facing,” Guiao said.
“But regardless of which team we will face, we’ll prepare hard for them.”
A win by Phoenix will put TNT at No. 2 at the end of the eliminations which will put it on a collision course with Rain or Shine.
But if TNT prevails, San Miguel will be paired with Rain or Shine.
Still, Guiao swears that “both are dangerous teams” although the volcanic-tempered mentor would like to see the Fuel Masters, an independent team like the E-Painters, emerge triumphant for sentimental reasons.
“To my mind, if we’re not going to face Phoenix, this means two of us independent teams have a good chance,” Guiao said.
“It’s very rare that you have independent teams in the top four. In my mind, it’s good, but on the other hand, you’ll be facing San Miguel.”
For Guiao, the six-game winning run won’t matter anymore as the landscape in the quarters will be entirely different.
“But I’m always cheering for the independent team. We’re also an independent team. We know how difficult it is to be in the semis. So we’ll just fight fair and square and see how far you can go.”
The loss dropped the FiberXers slate to 1-10 after taking their fourth straight loss.
