Comebacking Lee powers Rain or Shine over Barako Bull

MANILA, Philippines – Governors Cup titlist Rain or Shine, already bracing for the playoffs, shoved aside Barako Bull, 116-101, and gave Air21 a free passage into the quarterfinals in the PBA Philippine Cup at the MOA Arena tonight.

Paul Lee, the 2011-12 Rookie of the Year awardee, finally played his first game in the current season, making 16 points, six assists and four rebounds as he helped the Elasto Painters to a 9-5 win-loss finish in the elimination phase of the all-Filipino tourney.

Rain or Shine assured itself of at least third seeding in the playoffs while eliminating Barako Bull from the post-elims play with a 4-10 record.

Air21, which closed out its elims campaign earlier at 5-9, gained the eighth and last ticket to the quarterfinals, pitted against top seed Talk n Text, facing a tough task of winning two in a row to make the Last Four.

The Express are seeing action in the playoffs for the first time since chalking up merely five games in their maiden season in the PBA last year, playing under the banner of Shopinas.com.

The E-Painters had no problem disposing the Energy Cola even as head coach Yeng Guiao was caught in heavy traffic gridlocks in his trip from Pampanga, arriving at MOA Arena late in the third quarter of the game.

“Knowing I would be late, I called up coach Caloy (Garcia) before the game. I gave him very general instructions as I know he can coach anyway. The game plan was in place and we knew who the starters are a day before the game,” said Guiao.

“We’re happy with the result because the objective was to gain momentum and confidence back going to the playoffs, and be able to play Paul (Lee) and give him the feel of the game,” Guiao also said.

Lee performed well as if he had not been away for a long time or since Game Three of the last Governors Cup finals, going 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, 3-of-4 from the two-point zone and 1-of-1 from the stripe.

“I’ve been shooting around for quite some time already. And it became easier for me as we pulled away early in the game,” said Lee, looking well in shape. “I really worked hard to get back into my old playing weight. From 217 pounds, I’m down to 209. My usual playing weight is 210.”

Jervy Cruz and Jonathan Uyloan produced career best outputs of 23 and 18 points, respectively, with Jeff Chan, JR Quinahan and Beau Belga contributing double-digit markers as the E-Painters dominated the Energy Cola, leading by over 20 points in the lopsided contest.

Garcia also played third-string player Chito Jaime who had an altercation with Leo Najorda in the third period.

“Coach Yeng wanted us to end the elims with a win, and he wanted to bring the best from our players before going to the next round,” said Garcia.

Cruz, the 2006 UAAP MVP awardee, topscored on 10-of-17 field goals and added four rebounds, one assist and one steal while Uyloan piled up all-around numbers that included four rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks in what's easily his best game in three seasons in the league.

The Elasto Painters came through with a conference-high of 11 blocks with Gabe Norwood accounting for five.