RAIN or Shine rediscovered its erstwhile fiery form to claim NorthPort as its latest victim via a 127-107 count Thursday and get back on track in the PBA Commissioner's Cup at the PhilSports Arena.
There were no losing their focus or lackadaisical plays from the Elasto Painters like in their recent back-to-back losses as they followed import Deon Thompson's cue and led from start to finish.
Santi Santillan and Adrian Nocum also came up big as Rain or Shine improved its record to 6-3 for a share of fourth-running spot with idle Meralco, Hong Kong Eastern and Barangay Ginebra.
More important for coach Yeng Guiao is the way his players seemingly took his words to heart and performed much better than in their last two games that led to defeats in the hands of Phoenix and Converge.
"Before we came out of the locker room sinabi ko lang, unburden ourselves of the losing streak. 'Huwag na nating isipin 'yung losing streak. Isipin na lang natin mag-compete lang tayo because we can win at our best,'" related Guiao.
Sponsored content: "Last games namin nawalan kami ng focus, bumabagsak 'yung laro namin. Objectve lang naming talaga today... to play our best, keep our focus," added Guiao.
Thompson typified Rain or Shine's resolve with 27 points on 11-of-13 shooting from the field and also hauled down 11 rebounds while fellow starter Santillan added 16 points and Nocum coming off the bench for 16 points and seven rebounds.
Andrei Caracut, Anton Asistio, Keith Datu and Beau Belga also chipped in at least 10 points each for the E-Painters, who made half of their 97 shots from the field, including a 12-of-37 clip on three-pointers.
The loss was the second in a row for NorthPort, dropping it into a tie with Converge at 7-3.
Kadeem Jack had a gamehigh 39 points on top of 11 rebounds and Arvin Tolentino overcame another rough shooting night to finish with 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and as many blocks for the Batang Pier.
Sponsored content: Joshua Munzon added 17 points for coach Bonnie Tan, but their 44-of-99 clip from the field that includes a miserable 3-of-24 shooting from 3s and a 14-of-28 shooting from the stripes clearly took their toll on the erstwhile solo leaders.
NorthPort did muster enough to claw back from a 61-84 third quarter deficit and threaten within 90-102. But those simply were not enough to rattle Rain or Shine as it even stretched its lead to a high of 121-96, only 3:15 to go. (NC)
