THE RAIN OR SHINE Elasto Painters wrested the solo leadership with an emphatic 139-95 trashing of the Meralco Bolts last night in the 37th PBA Philippine Cup at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City.
All eyes were on Paul Lee and Solomon Mercado prior to the match as the speedy Meralco guard tagged the Rain or Shine playmaker as being over hyped for the attention that he has been getting in the tournament.
While Lee, the second overall pick in the Rookie Draft, clearly outplayed Mercado, the game was all about the entire Rain or Shine team
The Painters torched the net with their sizzling three-point shooting, draining a total of 22 trifectas鈥攖he second most made in league history.
The Talk 鈥楴 Text Tropang Texters hold the most number of three-point shots made with 23, which they did twice in 2008 and 2009.
Rain or Shine鈥檚 output was the most in franchise history. The Painters were extremely hot that they led by as many as 46 points in the fourth period.
With the win, the Painters padded their winning run to three, moving up to solo first place with a 5-1 (win-loss) record.
The Bolts saw their two-game win run come to an end and fell to 4-3 (win-loss).
Ronjay Buenafe scored 24 points, 15 coming in the second period where the Painters聽 broke the game wide open./EDITORIAL ASSISTANT CALVIN D. CORDOVA