The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters showed the Converge FiberXers what playoff toughness looks like. That, according to Yeng Guiao, was the key in the Elasto Painters’ massive comeback from 21 points down en route to a 124-120 win in Game 1 of their PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals series with the FiberXers.
“The most important thing in this win is just ‘yung playoff toughness namin…,” Guiao said postgame. “It’s just the playoff toughness of the guys. It’s toughness. It’s the buwis-buhay attitude namin.”
Rain or Shine certainly showed a lot of that toughness in the second half. After falling by as much as 21 in the first 24 minutes of Game 1, the Elasto Painters turned things around in the next 24 minutes, erasing every bit of Converge’s big lead in the first six minutes of the third quarter before fending off the FiberXers in the fourth.
Errors Doom Rain or Shine in the First Half
Early on, though, things looked bleak for Rain or Shine. Converge looked like the better team in every way in the first half, even with super rookie Juan Gomez de Liaño largely kept under wraps. In contrast, the Elasto Painters appeared discombobulated and out of their league.
“Marami kaming mali nung first half,” Guiao deadpanned. “We gave up too many offensive rebounds. I think in one half we gave up 14 offensive rebounds. We missed free throws. We had 13 turnovers. So, total, we gave up 27 extra possessions to the other team in the first half. That was really the main problem. Masyado kaming maraming pinamigay na opportunity sa kanila.”
Converge took full advantage of those mistakes. Behind Cameron Clark, Calvin Abueva, and Jaydee Tungcab, the FiberXers took control late in the opening frame, built a 48-27 lead early in the second, and took a 68-55 advantage into intermission.
Tough Teams Correct Their Mistakes
It turns out, part of that toughness Guiao alluded to is the ability to self-correct, something the Elasto Painters did plenty of in the second half.
“Sabi namin, kung maso-solve lang namin ‘yung mga problema na ‘yun, we can get back in the game, which happened,” Guiao pointed out. “Pumutok si Deo [Cuajao], pumutok si Caelan [Tiongson]. And then medyo na-solve namin ‘yung import nila.”
It was, indeed, problems solved for Guiao and company. Rain or Shine limited its miscues to seven in the second half and surrendered only eight offensive rebounds. It also went 11-for-12 from the foul line after going 11-for-20 in the first half. Cuajao and Tiongson did explode, too, with the former pouring in 13 of his 15 in the third quarter alone and Tiongson firing 15 of his 17 in the second half.
When all was said and done, the Elasto Painters ended up with the Game 1 win—and the belief that they could beat Converge.
