MANILA: The Barangay Ginebra Kings cruised to their third straight victory, thrashing the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 90-73, Friday night in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum. Willie Miller poured 22 points to lead the Kings to their fourth win in six games as they took solo third place in the standings behind joint leaders San Miguel and Talk N Text, both with a 4-1 win-loss record. Three other Kings scored in double digits with Ronald Tubid chipping 17 points, Jayjay Helterbrand 12 and Mark Caguioa 11. Like in their previous two games, the Kings had little trouble in beating the Painters as they shot the lights out of the coliseum with their torrid shooting combined with a tenacious defense. The loss snapped Rain or Shine's two-game win streak as the Painters skidded to eighth place with a 2-4 slate. The Kings continued to miss the services of injured big men Eric Menk and Yancy de Ocampo. Menk has already missed four games due to a hamstring pull. But despite the absence of their twin towers, the Kings have won their last three games after a one-point loss to San Miguel on Oct. 17 with an average winning margin of 15 points. They routed the Barako Bull, 93-74, last Friday then drubbed defending champion B-Meg Derby Ace, 93-82, last Sunday. Rain or Shine continued to play erratic basketball after dealing Talk N Text its first loss, 95-93. After that win, the Painters bowed to the Meralco Bolts, 79-87. Ginebra has dominated Rain or Shine in their head-to-head battles dating from last season. The Kings defeated the Painters in the two occasions they met in last year's Philippine Cup and won two of three meetings in the last Fiesta Conference. In the first match of the double-header, the Barako Bull Energy Boosters downed the Air21 Express, 89-79, for only their second win in five games. The Boosters were led by Mark Isip who scattered 23 points on an impressive 11-of-19 shooting from the field on top of seven rebounds. Former King Sunday Salvacion chipped in 15 points. Despite having a roster with no legitimate star, Barako Bull showed it can win games by sheer determination and tough defense. Perfectly executing the game plan of their head coach Junel Baculi, the Boosters led by as many as 24 points in the third quarter, foiling every attempt by the Express to stage an uprising from then on. Barako Bull held Air21 to just a measly 11-of-31 (35.5 percent) shooting from the field as the Boosters took a 46-33 lead at halftime.
