Painters complete PBA s’finals cast

The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters put up an amazing 23-0 run in the third quarter to demolish the Barangay Ginebra Kings, 102-89, in their do-or-die Game 3 of the 38th PBA Philippine Cup last night at the Araneta Coliseum.

The back-breaking run, which equalled the third all-time longest unanswered run, propelled the Painters to the semifinal round, where they will face the San Mig Coffee Mixers in a best-of-seven series.

Nicknamed “Lethal Weapon”, Paul Lee sparked Rain or Shine’s telling run, unloading 12 of his game-high 25 points in that stretch.

“Paul went to work in the third. We polished our zone offense. We prepared for their zone defense since that’s what helped them win Game 2,” Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao said in a televised interview.

Rain or Shine threatened to pull away as early as the second period when it built an 11-point lead but Ginebra was quick to respond and forced a 47-all standoff at the half.

The Ginebra crowd started to get roaring when rookie Cris Ellis completed a thunderous alley-oop dunk off pass from Jay-Jay Helterbrand. The highlight reel put the Kings on top, 51-49, exactly a minute gone by in the third.

Lee then started to heat up, scoring eight of Rain or Shine’s next 10 points. Rain or Shine had its own highlight play when Lee issued a nifty pass to Gabe Norwood, who completed a two-handed alley-oop dunk, giving the Painters a fat 68-51 lead.

Rain or Shine would score four more points after that spectacular play before Ginebra ended its long drought on a Mark Caguioa basket.

The Kings somehow kept themselves in the game when they closed the third with a 13-3 blast and moved within 64-76, entering the fourth.