They've advanced to the postseason. They're not going to stop now.
After a 110-99 win against the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters on Saturday, the NLEX Road Warriors have clinched a spot in the quarterfinals of the PBA Governors’ Cup.
It didn’t come easy.
Leading by as many as 29 points in the game, NLEX couldn’t put away Rain or Shine early as the Yeng Guiao-coached squad kept on climbing back into the game—even cutting the deficit to single digits with over a minute left.
“Rain or Shine is a tough team, at the same time we made turnovers down the stretch,” said Kevin Alas, who was named Best Player of the Game after scoring 28 points. It almost went for naught.
“It’s bad pero it’s a learning lesson for us. We should have finished the game better and stronger,” Alas added.
Coach Frankie Lim said their undoing was because they coughed the ball up too many times. “It was just our turnovers that hurt us in the second half.”
The former San Beda tactician also thinks they could have played better defense. “Once we control the boards, we can do what we want. Controlling the boards means making stops,” said Lim.
Nonetheless, they won. And with a 6-3 record, they’ve punched a ticket in the postseason. It would be Lim’s first quarterfinals trip in the PBA.
He’s not settling just for that.
“We’re looking for a spot in the top four,” the coach said.
NLEX has two more remaining games in the eliminations. One against the 2-6 Terrafirma, and another against Philippine Cup champions San Miguel.
They need to solve their turnover and defense problems to win these games and reach their goal of a top four finish by the time the playoffs come.