Rain or Shine Elasto Painters’ Jaylen Johnson during a game vs Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings within the 2026 PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
The PBA semifinals has been a well-recognized destination for Rain or Shine over the past two years—they simply haven’t gone past that.
But in Wednesday’s Game 1 win over Barangay Ginebra has given Adrian Nocum and the Elasto Painters the assumption that the core that they had been slowly constructing and cultivating under coach Yeng Guiao can finally recover from the proverbial hump.
“That has been the most important thing for us,” Nocum told the Inquirer, praising the Guiao system as Rain or Shine goes for a 2-0 lead of their Commissioner’s Cup Final 4 series on Friday on the Mall of Asia Arena.
Tipoff is at 5:15 p.m. because the Elasto Painters hope to shut in on a spot within the championship round—something they’ve failed to assert in 4 previous trips to the semifinals.
Rain or Shine took the opener, 115-111, at Ynares Center in Antipolo after rallying from a 10-point deficit within the fourth quarter, where import Jaylen Johnson and Jhonard Clarito were firing on all cylinders. The Painters paired that effort with defensive gems and timely plays from Nocum and Gian Mamuyac to fuel a mighty finish.
Top scorers
Johnson finished with 40 points and 19 rebounds and Clarito had 25 points.
It was Rain or Shine’s first victory in Game 1 of a semifinal series because the 2019 Philippine Cup, as all of the series openers against San Miguel Beer (2024 Philippine Cup) and TNT (2024 Governors’ Cup, 2024-25 Commissioner’s Cup and 2025 Philippine Cup) led to defeats.
Last independent champ
The Elasto Painters haven’t been to the Finals since winning all of it back within the 2016 Commissioner’s Cup, the last time an independent ballclub ruled a PBA conference. Nocum and the young core need three more wins to interrupt that spell.
“Almost everyone on the team is similar age and as we go down the trail of wanting to realize our goal, it’s still the identical group,” Nocum said in Filipino. “So it can be huge for us if we could get to the Finals, hopefully, because we are going to mature so much.”
To get there, they’ll must undergo more hardships against a Ginebra side that carries a great deal of experience and the always-advantageous crowd support. If Game 1 was hard, Nocum expects Game 2 to be harder.
“[W]e know they’ll be scouting us they usually’ll make essential adjustments,” the third-year product of Mapua said. “But in fact, we’d like to place in additional effort for us to win.”
Meanwhile, TNT will likewise seek a 2-0 lead over sister team Meralco in the opposite semis series at 7:30 p.m.
The Tropang 5G secured a 94-89 win in Wednesday’s other semis opener, with the locals leading the charge and provided ample support for his or her celebrated import Bol Bol.
Meralco, nonetheless, is keen on squaring the series after two games, with import Marvin Jones expected to pose problems once more for TNT.