The Rain or Shine Elasto Painters and the Meralco Bolts are on a collision course this Friday in Pasig City. Will the Elasto Painters win their third game in a row? Or, will the Bolts give their chances to have a podium finish in the PBA on Tour a big boost with a victory?
Catch this game live on Friday, July 28 at 7:30 pm, Manila time.
Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (8-2)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Andrei Caracut
- SG: Shaun Ildefonso
- SF: Nick Demusis
- PF: Mark Anthony Borboran
- C: Leonard Santillan
The Elasto Painters are feeling unstoppable again. Rain or Shine thwarted the Blackwater Bossing just last Sunday at the Filoil EcoOil Centre in San Juan, 131-108. While it was a concerted effort from the Elasto Painters player that keyed the victory, no one on the team shined brighter than big man Leonard Santillan, who went off for 24 points on an extremely efficient 9/12 shooting from the field.
He has been feeling it all campaign long in the PBA on Tour, as he is averaging 13.3 points per game while also leading his team with 7.1 rebounds per contest. But there’s so much more to Rain or Shine than Santillan, as evidenced by the fact that this team is leading the entire PBA in points per game with 112.8. The guard rotation that features Gian Mamuyac, Andrei Caracut, and Shaun Ildefonso has been lethal for Elasto Painters’ opponents, including the Bossing, who couldn’t stop all three from scoring at least 12 points each.
Meralco Bolts (6-4)
Projected Starting Five:
- PG: Anjo Caram
- SG: Kier Quinto
- SF: Alvin Pasaol
- PF: Cliff Hodge
- C: Norbert Torres
Meralco failed to sustain the momentum it gained from a 96-83 win over the NLEX Road Warriors on July 12, as the Bolts had their power cut two days later in an 89-82 shock loss at the hands of Blackwater. The Bolts’ terrible outside shooting (5/22 for 22 3FG%) and anemic bench (23 points against 51 points from Bossing relievers) proved to be too much to overcome for Meralco.
While those are not good signs for the Bolts heading into a matchup against Rain or Shine, they can still expect big things from Raymond Almazan, who can have some sort of revenge game against his former team. Almazan is definitely someone who can neutralize Santillan. The former Letran Knights star is averaging a near-double-double of 10.1 points and 8.3 rebounds per game while also swatting away a team-best 1.4 blocks per contest. Speaking of rebounding, Meralco is No. 1 in the PBA on Tour with 50.1 per game.
PREDICTION:
Spread: Rain or Shine (-6.0) covers the spread.
Over/Under: The total (206.5) hits the Under.
