The Petron Blaze Boosters joined their sister team in
the Finals of the 2013 PBA Governors’ Cup after beating the Rain or Shine
Elasto-Painters in Game Four, 110-89.
As if it wasn't already unfair that Petron had a much
deeper and taller roster, they also shot 52% from beyond the arc in Game Four.
As a team, the Boosters torched the nylons 14/27 times from long range,
effectively burying the hapless Painters under a barrage of trifectas. And the
more interesting thing? Only three guys combined for all fourteen triples --
Elijah Millsap drilled in three, Alex Cabagnot did him one better with four,
and Marcio Lassiter was just man-oh-effin-man amazing with SEVEN long toms.
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| Marcio Lassiter waxed hot as the Boosters beat the Painters. |
In such an important game, coach Yeng Guiao chose to
start seldom-used Jonathan Uyloan. Uyloan played 15 minutes overall,
registering 1 brock, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal. It's not really a
criticism of coach Yeng and Uyloan, but more a recognition of the plight of ROS
-- they just didn't have the depth to win three out of five against Petron. Oh,
and Jeff Chan laid a big fat egg in 11 minutes. Tsk tsk.
The last time Petron was in a PBA Finals series was way
back in 2011 when they beat the Talk N Text Tropang Texters and quashed their
grandslam dreams. This time around, the top team in the elims will go up
against sister team San Mig Coffee, which lost to Rain or Shine in the 2012
Govs' Cup Finals. It should be a great series peppered with tight match-ups all
around. One cannot help, however, but sense that perhaps the Petron Blaze
Boosters are destined to reclaim the crown that once was theirs.
Game Recaps:
RAIN OR
SHINE over PETRON BLAZE, 92-87
The Petron Blaze Boosters rained down three-pointers
on Rain or Shine for a blistering 110-89 victory on Monday at the SMART-Araneta
Coliseum to make their return to the finals of the PBA Governors’ Cup.
“We’re living the dream,” said Petron coach Gee
Abanilla. “This is a very good opportunity for us.”
Elijah Millsap broke out of his two-game slump to
score 34 points, Marcio Lassiter added 27, while Alex Cabagnot had 23 for
Petron, which wrapped up the semifinals series, 3-1.
Petron sizzled from beyond the arc, making 14-of-27
three-pointers for a 51.9 percent clip.
The defending champion Elasto Painters, already
missing star guard Paul Lee, suffered another blow in the first half after Jeff
Chan went out with an injury in the second quarter.
The Boosters took advantage, opening the second half
with 16 straight points to open up an imposing 62-40 lead.
Petron’s advantage ballooned all the way to 25
points, 70-45, courtesy of Millsap, who scored 18 points in the third period.
But Rain or Shine came charging back behind import Arizona Reid, cutting the
deficit to just 10, 80-70.
But Lassiter nailed back-to-back three pointers to
push the Petron lead back to 16, and timely baskets from Petron kept Rain or Shine
at bay the rest of the way.
“I just told my teammate I’ll be ready, and my
teammates found me tonight,” said Lassiter.
Petron enters the finals of a PBA tournament (for the
first time) since winning the Governors’ Cup in 2011, in a memorable series
that saw the Boosters slam the Grand Slam bid of Talk ‘N Text.
They will take on the San Mig Coffee Mixers, who
earlier took the first seat in the title round after eliminating Meralco.
The two franchises have a long history, but haven’t
met in the finals since the Governors’ Cup in 2000, when San Miguel Beer
defeated Purefoods, 4-1, in their best-of-seven series.
PET 110 – Millsap 34, Lassiter 27, Cabagnot 23, Fajardo 9,
Santos 8, Lutz 2, Kramer 2, Miranda 2, Tubid 2, Lanete 1, Isip 0.
ROS 89 – Reid 41, Belga 10, Arana 9, Quinahan 7, Norwood 6,
Tang 5, Ibanes 5, Tiu 3, Matias 3, Uyloan 0, Cruz 0, Chan 0.
QS: 24-25,
46-40, 80-65, 110-89
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| Arizona Reid hardly got any help from the locals last night. |
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| Coach Gee Abanilla will get his first taste of the PBA Finals against San Mig Coffee. |
Source:
Unless otherwise specified, game recaps were compressed and compiled from InterAKTV.
(Writing credit to Rey Joble)
Images: Images
are from InterAKTV. (Photo credit to Pranz Kaeno Billones)
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