Keith Datu (right) comes up huge for Rain or Shine. —PBA IMAGES
After getting back two key players from the injured list, coach Yeng Guiao is ready to embrace the long break, especially after Rain or Shine got back on the winning track.
“With our bigs back, it allowed us to put in motion our running game,” Guiao said after the Elasto Painters’ 120-106 win over the Blackwater Bossing at Ninoy Aquino Stadium to go 3-2 in the PBA Philippine Cup.
Caelan Tiongson and Beau Belga returned to action while Keith Datu, playing his second game back from a calf injury, scored a career-high 27 that enabled Rain or Shine to bounce back from last week’s loss to Converge.
In that 107-97 defeat at PhilSports Arena, Datu was the lone guy to man the shaded lane, and put up a solid job. But Guiao was left to lament on the team being outrebounded by the FiberXers’ duo of rookie Justine Baltazar and Justin Arana.
“Balti and Arana had 39 rebounds combined while we only had 40 as a team,” Guiao said. “We wanted to run, but we couldn’t clean up the boards. So it was a big lesson for us.”
11-day break
Tiongson posted 14 points and four rebounds after missing the last two matches due to back spasms, while Belga played five minutes in his first game this conference after dealing with vertigo.
Datu added eight rebounds for the Elasto Painters to cap off a performance that was a big boost for the sophomore, who has been on-and-off with injuries since being selected in the first round of the 2023 Rookie Draft.
The win comes as the Elasto Painters enter an 11-day break, with the unbeaten Magnolia Hotshots next on May 18 in Montalban, Rizal. They were supposed to face the TNT Tropang 5G on May 14, but the league rejigged the remainder of the schedule to give way to the Meralco Bolts’ participation in next month’s Basketball Champions League Asia.
Its match with TNT, on the other hand, was moved to May 21 as part of the adjustment.
It took Rain or Shine some time to see off Blackwater, which led for a significant portion as Sedrick Barefield, returning from a hamstring problem, knocked down shots from both the three and the four.
Rain or Shine, though, was able to take control as Adrian Nocum led the breakaway in the final canto with eight of his 23 in that juncture.
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Christian David and Barefield posted 28 and 23, respectively, for the Bossing, who fell to a share of the bottom with the Terrafirma Dyip at 1-4.
