Rejuvenated Rain or Shine guns for second straight victory in PBA Best-of-Seven Finals

Game today:

Araneta Coliseum
5 p.m.- Rain or Shine vs. Talk ‘N Text

Rain or Shine’s Raymond Almazan (57) and Wayne Chism (2) gang up on Talk ‘N Text import Ivan Johnson in Game 2 of their best-of-seven championship series. (INQUIRER PHOTO)

It was just one win but for the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, it was a victory that meant a lot.

Boosted by a stirring come-from-behind win in Game 2, the Elasto Painters try to make it two-in-a-row when they battle the Talk ‘N Text Tropang Texters today in Game 3 of the 40th PBA Commissioner’s Cup Best-of-Seven Finals at the Araneta Coliseum.

Rain or Shine finally put one over Talk ‘N Text when it clawed back from a 17-point first half deficit to steal Game 2, 116-108, last Friday night.

Prior to the win, Talk N Text had beaten Rain or Shine for eight straight times, including a 99-92 win in Game 1.

Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao said the series-tying Game 2 triumph showed that his wards have what  it takes to defeat the mighty Tropang Texters.

“That win just gave us great confidence,” said Guiao. “We just tied the series. We’re just back to square one. But we pulled off something that really boosted our confidence.”

Rain or Shine managed to tie the series despite the 44-point explosion of Talk ‘N Text guard Jayson Castro.

“If you can survive a big onslaught from a great team like Talk n Text, a 27-point first half output from Jayson Castro, overcome a 17-point deficit and win, you get the confidence that you can play with the best,” Guiao added.

It was the first that Rain or Shine defeated Talk ‘N Text after it got swept in their 2013 Philippine Cup Finals showdown and 2014 Commissioner’s Cup semifinal duel.

“At halftime, I was just telling the guys to weather the storm, stay in the game, stay tough and work hard. They did just that,” said Guiao.

Talk ‘N Text head coach Jong Uichico said his team’s failure to defend well allowed Rain or Shine to steal the win.

“It doesn’t mean that when you’re up by so many points in the first half, generally you can duplicate that in the second half. They made their adjustments also. They scored a lot. We know they’re capable of scoring a lot. We just didn’t defend the way we should have,” he said.

Uichico stressed that although the Tropang Texters have been dominating the Elasto Painters in their previous battles, they knew that the team is in for a dogfight.

“No one said that this series is going to be easy. It’s only a perception that this series is going to be one, but it’s not,” he said.