Rain or Shine, TNT seek 2-0 leads in PBA semis
Published May 21, 2026 01:33 pm
At A Glance
- Riding the crest of their Game 1 victories, the Elasto Painters gun for a repeat against the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the 5:15 p.m. curtain raiser, while the Tropang 5G eye the same against the Meralco Bolts in the main event at 7:30 p.m.
TNT and Rain or Shine seek 2-0 leads over their respective rivals in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup semifinals at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday, May 22.
Riding the crest of their Game 1 victories, the Elasto Painters gun for a repeat against the Barangay Ginebra Kings in the 5:15 p.m. curtain raiser, while the Tropang 5G eye the same against the Meralco Bolts in the main event at 7:30 p.m.
TNT head coach Chot Reyes certainly would want his team to strike when the iron is hot and bury Meralco to a 0-2 hole. For one, his wards seem to be peaking at the right time with the locals finally beginning to play well around 7-foot-3 import Bol Bol.
Jayson Castro, Rey Nambatac and Jordan Heading are providing steady contributions aside from usual scorers Calvin Oftana and RR Pogoy.
And once the offense begins to flow for the Tropang 5G, everything else seems to follow.
“When we get that other scorer, aside from Roger and Calvin, it really helps our offense, And I think when we're scoring well, it also energizes our defense,” said Reyes.
But the Bolts certainly won’t just roll over and die.
One of the top defensive teams in the league, it is imperative for Meralco to limit the impact of Bol, especially now that he’s learning to share the wealth with his teammates, evident by his eight assists in Game 1.
That responsibility should fall not only on the shoulders of import Marvin Jones but also the likes of Brandon Bates and Cliff Hodge. On offense, Chris Newsome, CJ Cansino, Jason Brickmann and Chris Banchero should also be on point.
Meanwhile in the other pairing, the Kings should be eager to bounce back after the shock collapse in the waning minutes of Game 1.
The loss also wasted big efforts from Best Player of the Conference favorite RJ Abarrientos and resident import Justin Brownlee.
For Rain or Shine, however, they have to brace for the huge fightback from Ginebra while managing their injuries after Luis Villegas went down with a hamstring injury while Caelan Tiongson remained questionable for Game 2.