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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider Basketball devider Here's how Phoenix stopped Rain or Shine's hot PBA run

Here's how Phoenix stopped Rain or Shine's hot PBA run

Published Apr 22, 2026 01:56 pm

At A Glance

  • The Charles Tiu-mentored squad put the first dent to ROS' erstwhile clean slate with a close 87-83 come-from-behind win.

For the first seven games of the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup, Rain or Shine is looking nothing but unstoppable — from its franchise-best win streak to breaking and setting scoring and three-point shooting records.

That was the case until they met the Phoenix Fuel Masters.

The Charles Tiu-mentored squad put the first dent to ROS’ erstwhile clean slate with a close 87-83 come-from-behind win.

And the team pulled off what most of the teams couldn’t do against ROS just to pick up the big win — put a clamp to its run-and-gun offense.

“It feels great, to be honest. Coming to this game, I was very worried about how to stop Rain or Shine kasi they've looked so good this conference. Kahit walang import na nanalo pa sila. But, again, I feel great. We prepared for them,” said Tiu, stressing that the team put a premium on the defensive end.

“We challenged the guys to really step up defensively. We tried to stop them from running as much as possible. Just solid one-on-one defense,” he added.

Phoenix held Rain or Shine to its lowest output this conference and typifying its defensive effort was the numbers the Elasto Painters import Jaylen Johnson had in the game.

The sweet-shooting center was limited to just 12 points on a poor 5-of-25 shooting from the field. As a team, the Elasto Painters were limited to just 17 fastbreak points and nine three-point field goals — crippling two offensive weapons for ROS.

It also helped that Phoenix began hitting their shots in the second half, preventing ROS from running off the Fuel Masters’ misses. 

With that formula in place, Phoenix recovered from a huge 18-point deficit and doused the hottest team so far in the league

“When the effort's there, when the guys want to compete, which they did today, I think we can compete with any team naman. It's just that in some games we don't look like ourselves. But, today we were there. We were focused. Again, it was just a big win for us. They dug deep. We stuck with it,” said Tiu.

Related Tags

Charles Tiu Phoenix Fuel Masters Rain or Shine Elasto Painters
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