Adrian Nocum and his Rain or Shine teammates celebrate late in the game against Converge in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup quarterfinals.–PBA IMAGES
MANILA, Philippines—Rain or Shine’s Deon Thompson didn’t run out of praises for the entire Elasto Painters’ locals after they marched on to the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals.
Rain or Shine overcame a twice-to-win disadvantage after knocking off No. 3 Converge, 112-103, in their quarterfinals decider on Sunday.
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Thompson was phenomenal in the victory with a conference-high 34 points and 12 rebounds but the American-Ivorian import stressed he wasn’t the sole reason why the Painters are moving on to a best-of-seven semifinal clash with second seed TNT.
READ: PBA: ‘Underrated’ Deon Thompson leads Rain or Shine to semis
“My teammates are really good,” said a beaming Thompson.
“It’s not about me. I got to the bench and Beau (Belga) hit big threes, Adrian’s (Nocum) incredible in transition, Andrei (Caracut) came to battle, he played well so it’s a collective thing.”
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Every name Thompson mentioned contributed significantly to the squad’s big victory.
Beau Belga, who only played for six minutes in the fourth, hit two big triples that kept Converge at bay while Thompson was on the bench resting while Andrei Caracut stuffed the stat sheet with 14 points, six assists and three rebounds.
READ: PBA: Rain or Shine boots out Converge for semis spot
But no other local played bigger than Adrian Nocum, who followed up his 28-point outing in Game 2 with 25 points on a blistering 69 percent shooting.
Now heading on to the semis against a formidable foe in TNT, Thompson reiterated Rain or Shine has a solid shot at defying the odds again if they come together the way they did in their series against the FiberXers.
“It’s not just about one person. If you look at the top teams around this league, the Ginebras and the Meralcos, it’s not just JB (Justin Brownlee) or Akil (Mitchell), it’s the collective team on why they’re so good.”