HAVING it solid early in the season-ending Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Governors’ Cup, the NLEX Road Warriors are looking to sustain their fine form as they take on the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in the curtain-raiser today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Scheduled at 4:15 p.m., the Road Warriors, winners of their first two games in the ongoing PBA tournament, are out to make it three straight victories to give their turnaround bid further legs after bottom-scraping showings in the previous two conferences.
Following the NLEX-Rain or Shine encounter, meanwhile, is the set-to between the Phoenix Petroleum Fuel Masters (2-0) and GlobalPort Batang Pier (0-1) at 7 p.m.
The latest of NLEX’s victories came last Saturday, when they defeated Kia Picanto, 100-93.
In said game, the Road Warriors bucked a spirited fight back by the Picanto in the second half as well as the ejection of coach Yeng Guiao to hack out their second straight win.
Import Aaron Fuller led the way for NLEX in their win over Kia with 24 points and 19 rebounds.
He, along with locals Kevin Alas and JR Quiñahan, conspired in the wind-up to keep the Road Warriors above water amid a furious charge back from the Picanto to eventually secure the win.
Both Messrs. Alas and Quiñahan came off the bench to give their team a boost, They combined for 24 points, nine rebounds and four assists apart from giving stability to the team in the end game.
Incidentally, the good showing of Mr. Alas gave him the first player of the week award in the tournament.
Mr. Alas, in their first two victories, averaged 16.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists.
In winning the award, the former Letran Knight beat out Phoenix guard RJ Jazul, Meralco’s Chris Newsome, Rain or Shine’s Maverick Ahanmisi and Star veteran PJ Simon.
Now off to a 2-0 start, the significance of it is not lost to the Road Warriors, considering where they are coming from.
“It’s a nice feeling to be putting together winning streaks. I think the confidence level of the team is getting better,” said Mr. Guiao following their win over Kia.
“We know there’s something good that’s really happening within the team right now. We feel the transformation from the way we approach things,” the NLEX coach added.
SHOOTING FOR 2-0
Angling to halt NLEX’s streak while padding its own cause is Rain or Shine, a team that was once under the stewardship of now-NLEX coach Guiao.
The Elasto Painters won in their tournament debut over GlobalPort Batang Pier, 98-96, last Friday and are looking to improve to 2-0 with a win over NLEX.
Rain or Shine relied on the late-game heroics of big man Raymond Almazan from the free throw line to pull off the squeaker.
With time winding down and the scored tied at 96-all, Mr. Almazan soared to get an offensive rebound and went for a putback where he got fouled.
The Gilas pool member then coolly sank the two free throws for the go-ahead from which GlobalPort could not recover from.
Import JD Weatherspoon paced the Elasto Painters with 25 points and 15 rebounds while Mr. Ahanmisi finished with 17 points.
Game hero Almazan, for his part, had a double-double of 15 points and 10 boards.
Meanwhile, Phoenix also shoots for a 3-0 tournament start as it takes on GlobalPort.
The Fuel Masters have won back-to-back games with reinforcement Eugene Phelps showing the way with norms of 31 points, 14 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game.
GlobalPort, for its part, is out to bounce back after losing in its debut. It is set to parade a new import in Murphy Holloway after original choice Jabril Trawick bombed in his first game, posting only three points, two rebounds and two assists in 16 foul-plagued minutes.