PAUL LEE got his rhythm back and Rain or Shine encountered little trouble in dispatching a Manny Pacquiao-less Kia, 117-88, for its second straight win in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. Returning from a knee injury, Lee unloaded 16 of his 22 points in the second half as the Elasto Painters showed no mercy against the Sorento, who for the second straight game missed the services of playing-coach Pacquiao. The 37-year-old Pacquiao is in the thick of his training for his title fight against American Chris Algieri on November 23 in Macau.
And just like in its previous game, Kia was knocked down early by Rain or Shine, while Lee delivered more telling blows in the final 24 minutes to lead the Elasto Painters to a 2-1 win-loss mark.
“We started the conference slow. We’re just trying to regain our chemistry and get our confidence back. And this is the way we do it,” said Rain or Head Coach Yeng Guiao, who got a technical foul late in the third period for questioning an illegal pick slapped on Beau Belga against Sorento guard Alvin Padilla.
“We played with a lot of energy. In the first two games, we just had bursts of energy which we couldn’t sustain,” Guiao added.
And Lee was responsible for sustaining that energy in the second half, unloading four triples as Rain or Shine built 29-point leads in the fourth quarter, the last at 98-69, 7:49 left in the game.
Belga added 15 markers, TY Tang had 15 and Jeric Teng, Jervy Cruz and Jericho Cruz each had 12 points for the Elasto Painters, who will play Talk ‘N Text on Sunday. Ryan Araña and Chris Tiu sat out the game due to injuries. Araña will play against the Tropang Texters while Tiu will miss one more week.
Kia, which dropped to 1-2, was led by Reil Cervantes with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Padilla contributed 17 for the Sorento, who absorbed an 87-55 beating at the hands of Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in their last outing.
Pacquiao tried to pump up the team at the locker room, talking to the players via phone patch and almost did wonders as Kia cut the lead to nine, 57-66. But Rain or Shine ended the third period with a 15-8 exchange for an 81-65 cushion entering the fourth.
Then Lee scored the team’s 11 of 16 points for a 96-67 spread with still eight minutes left in the contest.