Rain or Shine Elasto Painters’ Andrei Caracut during a game vs San Miguel Beermen within the 2026 PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals. –PBA IMAGES
Rain or Shine knows the second game of a twice-to-beat bonus isn’t as secure as the primary one.
Not with the Painters paired with powerhouse San Miguel Beer within the quarterfinals of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
“We earned the twice-to-beat advantage, but we knew that if we got to Sunday, we wouldn’t have the ability to beat SMB,” coach Yeng Guiao said after his team’s 113-104 victory over the Beermen on Sunday on the Ynares Sports Center in Antipolo City.
The Sunday schedule would have materialized had Rain or Shine lost in its quarterfinal opener. There, the Painters would have been the one facing pressure.
“This was our greatest probability to beat SMB. We took care of business today,” Guiao said. “We felt that this was our greatest probability to get to the semis.”
Caracut shines
Rain or Shine used a 13-3 run to dig itself out of a four-point hole and take a 99-93 lead on the 6:13 mark of the ultimate quarter, with Andrei Caracut capping that exchange with an enormous triple.
It wouldn’t be the last big shot that the Painters got from Caracut.
Jericho Cruz and Bennie Boatwright helped push San Miguel closer, 99-97, but Rain or Shine showed how unwilling it was to get dragged to a Sunday decider when it responded with nine straight points, which featured a triple from Caelan Tiongson and a four-pointer from Caracut, to drag away for good, 108-97, 2:35 remaining.
“I just became consistent [through] practice,” said Caracut, who finished with 29 points, six rebounds and five assists.
“We’re blissful since it’s been some time since Rain or Shine defeated SMB in a series, but we still must work. The semis won’t be easy,” he added.
Jaylen Johnson had 23 points and 12 rebounds to guide the No. 3 seed, but he got plenty of help from his teammates. Tiongson also had 23 points, while Adrian Nocum finished with 18 points and 6 rebounds.
Forced deciders
Bennie Boatwright finished with 24 points and 7 rebounds while June Mar Fajardo tallied 12 points and 12 rebounds within the San Miguel loss. CJ Perez added 19 points for the Beermen.
Rain or Shine, the primary team to make the semifinals after two higher seeds were forced into deciders on Wednesday.
The Painters await the winner of the Barangay Ginebra-Phoenix matchup, which got going at press time.