#PBA2015 Philippine Cup Playoffs Roundup: January 4, 2015

The Alaska Aces leaned on the red-hot shooting of Dondon Hontiveros to punch the final ticket to the 2014-2015 Philippine Cup Finals opposite the seemingly unstoppable San Miguel Beermen.

Dondon Hontiveros waxed red-hot as the Aces closed out the Painters.
(image by Josh Albelda/Rappler)

Game Recaps (adapted from Rey Joble/InterAKTV):

ALASKA ACES over RAIN OR SHINE ELASTO-PAINTERS, 79-76
Box Scores.
Red-hot Dondon Hontiveros scored 15 points in the fourth quarter – all on three-pointers – as he lifted Alaska into the championship round of the PBA Philippine Cup after a 79-76 victory over Rain or Shine in Game Six of their best-of-seven semifinal series on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Hontiveros finished with 17 points, while Calvin Abueva added 15 points and 9 rebounds as the Aces knocked out the Elasto Painters, 4-2. They victors advanced to face the San Miguel Beermen in the finals.

The ‘Cebuano Hotshot’ caught fire in the fourth period, where he scored all but two of his points. He connected on five three-pointers, including back-to-back daggers inside the last two minute mark to push his team ahead.

Sonny Thoss also finished in double-figures with 11 points, while Vic Manuel grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds to help the cause.

Alaska dominated the paint in this one, outscoring ROS inside, 36-26. The Aces also got a lot of production from their bench, which outscored the ROS reserves, 49-30.

It was another sorry exit for ROS coach Yeng Guiao, who has yet to win a Philippine Cup title in his pro coaching career. The Painters were paced by 14 points from Jeff Chan, but the Gilas sniper hit just 3 of his 12 FG attempts. Raymond Almazan backed him up with 11 markers and 8 rebounds. As a team, ROS wasted its rebounding edge, 50-39, by shooting only 32% from the floor, including 21% from beyond the arc. They also had the lion’s share of free throw attempts (27 to just 19 for Alaska), but the Painters misfired on 8 of those freebies.

Line of the Game: Dondon Hontiveros - 17pts, 6rebs, 1ast, 1blk, 5 triples.