According to Yeng Guiao, Rain or Shine has a “realistic chance” against TNT in their PBA 49th Season Commissioner’s Cup semifinal series because of Caelan Tiongson’s defense and import Deon Thompson’s inside presence.

In Game One, which the Elasto Painters lost 88-84 on Wednesday, Thompson was a formidable force inside the paint, while Tiongson made life rather uncomfortable for TNT import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.

With Tiongson as his main defender, the two-time Best Import winner bled for his 23 points on 8-of-27 shooting from the field for 29 percent, but Tiongson’s offense suffered as he finished with three points, five rebounds, and three assists on a 1-of-11 shooting effort.

Rain or Shine missed the 6-foot-5 Tiongson during the Governors’ Cup semifinals matchup with TNT because he was absent for the whole best-of-seven series, which the Tropang Giga won 4-1, due to a strained calf.

The Tropang Giga, who went 14 of 34 from three-point range, were forced to look for their shots from the perimeter due to Thompson’s intimidating interior.

“Deon is a bigger threat both inside and outside than Aaron (Fuller) was,” Guiao said, contrasting Rain or Shine’s import from the season-opening Governors’ Cup with the North Carolina product.

In his league semifinal debut, Thompson recorded a game-high 29 points and 16 rebounds.

“With those two factors, tingin ko mas realistic ‘yung chances namin dito sa series na ito,” the Coach added.

Meanwhile, it was not Jayson Castro’s choice to miss the last two minutes of Game 1 of TNT’s semifinal series against Rain or Shine in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Castro was penalized for a flagrant foul penalty, forcing him to sit out Tropang Giga’s 88-84 victory over the Elasto Painters. With 1:59 remaining in the game, Castro seemed to strike Andrei Caracut in the face with his foot as he was in the air.

During the postgame press conference, Castro quickly apologized to Caracut for the inadvertent event before answering questions about missing the last seconds of Game 1.

Castro said, “By the way, sorry talaga. Sobrang aksidente ‘yung nangyari kasi ‘yung momentum niya, going to the ball na at pa-fastbreak na. And then, nasa ere ako, hindi ko naman control ‘yung mangyayari,”.

“Sorry talaga kay Andrei pero alam naman niya ‘yun.”. The incident caused Castro’s night to end early, leaving TNT without their best guard in the closing seconds. Following the egregious foul, Caracut made two free throws to reduce the Rain or Shine margin to three, 87-84. It turned out to be the final goal scored by RoS in Game 1.

The TNT veteran guard stated that he trusts his teammates to step in and take over, so he wasn’t too worried about missing any games.

“Ready naman sila. At the same time, ‘yung trust ko naman sa other guards, nandoon talaga,” said Castro, who scored 24 points and made 6 of 7 three-pointers to lead TNT’s offensive.

However, Castro claimed that defense was the main factor in TNT’s victory over Rain or Shine in Game 1, as the Tropang Giga made crucial stops to seal the four-point triumph.

Despite having a bad game and shooting 8 of 27 from the field, Castro claimed that Rondae Hollis-Jefferson set the tone for TNT on defense.

“To be honest, ang nagpapanalo sa amin is ‘yung defense talaga. Even si RHJ, ‘yung average scoring niya hindi ganun (kalaki) pero on defense, siya ‘yung pinaka-anchor namin doon. Siya ‘yung nagdidikta sa amin, four blocks siya. So give credit to RHJ na kahit off-night niya, ‘yung depensa niya, nandoon,” The 38-year-old Castro remarked.