Ginebra, Rain or Shine in semis

ANTIPOLO, Philippines — It was a matchup between a youthful, hungry bunch and a battle-tested crew.

But as if the roles were reversed, it was Rain or Shine that showed remarkable poise, hit the clutch shots and made the bigger plays while San Miguel Beer didn’t quite live up to its glossy pedigree and wilted under heavy pressure.

As a result, the No. 3 Elasto Painters took the W, 113-104, cashing in on their win-once advantage against the sixth-ranked Beermen to blitz to the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals last night at Ynares Center-Antipolo.

“We had a good night. We felt this was our best chance to get to the semifinals with the twice-to-beat. Alam namin pag pinarating pa namin sa Sunday (rubber match), malamang sa malamang hindi namin matatalo ang San Miguel,” he added.

Forging a best-of-seven duel with ROS was No. 2 Barangay Ginebra.

Like the E-Painters, the twice-to-beat  Gin Kings also took the express lane to the semis at the expense of No. 7 Phoenix, 112-81.

The crowd darlings detonated a 14-2 bomb at the start of the second to set the tone for the blowout and cruise to the next stage.

It was ROS’ first time to beat the multi-titled franchise in a playoff confrontation since the 2016 Governors’ Cup.

Andrei Caracut, in his most explosive performance of the conference in front of rumored girlfriend, volleyball star, Bella Belen, rifled in six booming triples and one four-ball in a 29-point sizzler.

“Matagal na hindi namin tinalo ang San Miguel sa ganitong series,” he said.