Moments after Rain or Shine defeated San Miguel, 98-96 in Game Two of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals showdown to hold a 2-0 series lead, Elasto Painters import Pierre Henderson-Niles admitted he still couldn’t believe he was able to score a dunk during the fourth quarter of the contest.
“I don’t know how I evened dunked that. I was so tired. It felt good though,” Henderson-Niles said of the dunk which pushed Rain or Shine’s lead up to 89-77 during that point.
The Elasto Painters reinforcement flexed his muscles afterwards, knowing he has it all figured out.
“It took me a couple of games to get my wind or get in shape but I am there right now. Hopefully I keep getting better and let’s see if we can win this thing, win a championship,” Henderson-Niles said after the game.
Henderson-Niles played his best game yet under a Rain or Shine uniform, notching a double-double of 15 points and 18 rebounds. He shot from the field and was also a plus-26.
Rain or Shine has gone 5-0 now with their hefty import. With Henderson-Niles and his team starting to find the perfect rhythm, he said his goal now is to win the first-ever championship of his basketball career in the PBA.
But he added his team must first stay focused to win the series against a very dangerous San Miguel team.
“Anything can happen, they can win three games in a row. We have to stay focused in this next game. We got to come out and do what we’ve been doing and that is playing (defense), pushing the ball, that’s how we’re winning,” Henderson-Niles shared.
And as far as his match-up with June Mar Fajardo is concerned, Henderson-Niles said he already feels comfortable. Henderson-Niles also reiterated that Fajardo was better than Barangay Ginebra center Greg Slaughter.
“San Miguel is better. June Mar is better offensive-wise. With Greg, I didn’t have to guard him because he was not attacking me. June Mar, he is trying to attack me but I love defense, I play defense all my life. He is a better offensive player than Greg. No disrespect to Greg but, June Mar is kinda better,” Henderson-Niles said.
June Mar Fajardo was limited to his lowest output of the series so far, scoring just 14 points and grabbing 14 rebounds in Game Two.
“The first game, that was my first game having to guard a real big man so really didn’t know how to adjust. It got me into foul trouble early, so I went back and watched the film and see what I needed to do. When I came out (in Game Two), I had no trouble today so I thought it was good.”
