RAIN OR SHINE and Meralco shoot for a pivotal 3-2 series lead when they battle respective opponents In Game 5 of the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven semifinals on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
The Elasto Painters square off with the Barangay Ginebra Kings at 7:30 p.m., following the 5:15 p.m. match between the Bolts and the TNT Tropang 5G.
Rain or Shine rolled past Ginebra, 87-75, last Wednesday to even their series at 2-2, thanks to its 13 three-point shots.
But the Elasto Painters know the situation remain topsy-turvy as they face a Gin Kings side rich in playoff experience under all-time PBA winning coach Tim Cone.
Justin Brownlee, a three-time Best Import awardee, continues to be at the forefront of the Gin Kings offense along with do-it-all guard Scottie Thompson, RJ Abarrientos and veteran big man Japeth Aguilar.
Rain or Shine, on the other hand, has Jaylen Johnson, defense specialist Caelan Tiongson, wingman Jhonard Clarito and its slew of cat-quick guards led by Adrian Nocum, Gian Mamuyan and Andrei Caracut.
Meanwhile, Meralco hopes to build on its 101-90 win in Game 4 against TNT, which is still adjusting with comebacking import Chris McCollough, who took the place of the injured Bol Bol.
McCollough played his first game last Wednesday, scoring 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds, but he was clearly still working his way back since being out of competition since he last played for the Taoyuan Taiwan Beer in the Taiwan pro league.
Best remembered for leading San Miguel to the PBA Commissioner’s Cup title in 2019, McCollough missed all his five three-point attempts in Game 4.
But he vowed to better the rest of the way.
“This is my first time picking up a basketball in 13 days, so I’m still getting my rhythm, still getting my flow, but once I get going, it’ll be scary,” said the NBA veteran.
“It’s taking one game at a time, we’ve got a game Friday, one game at a time, get a win, come back and that’s it,” he added. RICHARD DY
