Kings reign over E-Painters in opener

MANILA, Philippines — Three conferences out of Rain or Shine, Negrense hotshot Jeff Chan proved he’s still a big time playoff performer against the ROS team itself.

Chan frolicked with 21 points and made the big difference in a fourth-quarter rampage Barangay Ginebra uncorked to ram past ROS, 102-89, in the opener of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup best-of-five semifinal series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

The two-time All-Star MVP winner pumped in 10 points in the final canto, including a triple and twinner in a 16-to-nothing run that eventually put the E-Painters away at 102-78.

“Jeff is really a great weapon when he has great players around him. He’s dynamic. He showed that tonight,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.

Justin Brownlee was his usual prolific self, exploding for 35 points and also coming through with 14 rebounds and nine assists in a near triple-double game.

Greg Slaughter delivered his own solid all-around game with 20 markers and six boards while Joe Devance contributed 12 points, five rebounds and five assists to make up for the absence of the injury-hit Japeth Aguilar.

“The best part of doing this was doing this without Japeth,” said Cone after stretching their hot streak to eight games sans one major player.

“He’s been out since our last game against Meralco. He’s got a significant swelling in his Achilles tendon, and we don’t want to risk him. We want to make sure he stays healthy,” Cone added.

Minus Aguilar who averages 17 points and 6.9 rebounds a game, the Gin Kings still dominated the E-Painters, building an early double-digit spread on the hot start of first stringers Brownlee, Slaughter, Devance, LA Tenorio and Scottie Thompson.

But the gritty E-Painters kept on fighting back and stared only at a six-point deficit, 70-76, at the start of the fourth period.

ROS was still very much in the fight, 78-88, before Chan struck with his third and last trey in the contest then dished out a perfect pass to Brownlee to ignite a run that broke the game open for good.

Chan went 6-of-10 from the field and 6-of-8 from the stripe in his most productive game in a Ginebra jersey.

The E-Painters stayed intact through the first 40 minutes of the game, largely behind import Reggie Johnson who got away with 30 points and 19 rebounds.

Brownlee, Devance and Tenorio combined for 5-of-9 three-pointers to highlight a swashbuckling Ginebra start.

The scores: 

Ginebra 102 – Brownlee 35, Chan 21, Slaughter 20, Devance 12, Tenorio 5, Thompson 4, Mercado 3, Aguilar 2, Caperal 0, Mariano 0, Manuel 0, Ferrer 0. 

Rain or Shine 89 – Johnson 30, Yap 15, Daquioag 10, Tiu 7, Washington 6, Ponferada 6, Ahanmisi 6, Belga 4, Nambatac 3, Norwood 2, Almazan 0, Borboran 0. 

Quarterscores: 31-17, 52-45, 76-70, 102-89