ANTIPOLO — Jhonard Clarito sure knows how to redeem himself after playing a role so important in Rain or Shine’s thrilling escape from Ginebra in Game 1 of their PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup semifinal series on Wednesday.
The bruising winger finished with 25 points and six rebounds, coming through with crucial plays during crunch time, which enabled the Elasto Painters to pull off the 115-111 decision and draw first blood in their best-of-seven affair.
And it was also his way of making up for the disappearing act he had in their elimination round meeting with the Kings last May 3, in which they got crushed, 114-90, under the bright lights of the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
There, he laid a big fat egg while the opposition totally had their way, most especially from deep, as they knocked down a total of 21 three-pointers.
Seventeen days later, he finally got himself a chance to atone for that extremely rare scoreless performance, and boy did he succeed.
Clarito submitted a consistent showing, none bigger than his effort on both ends down the stretch–much to the delight of the entire Rain or Shine.
(C) PBA Images
After collaring a miss by the Kings, the 2024 Most Improved Player would hit a booming trey from the corner to push their lead to 111-107 with 1:18 left.
And when Ginebra came within a field goal from six down behind Scottie Thompson, he was there to help keep them at bay, going perfect from the foul line with 16.1 seconds to spare, which settled the eventual scoreline.
Those bonuses were also his way of bouncing back from their sorry 92-90 loss to NLEX last April 29 in the virtual battle for the no. 1 seed, where he missed what could’ve been the marginal free throws in the dying seconds.
Simply put, there were so many layers for him in this dramatic Game 1 win, although he refuses to take all the spotlight, as he’s prouder of the poise they showed when they rallied back from 10 points down early in the fourth.
“Ano lang, nag-usap-usap lang kami sa [huddle] namin: depensa. Tsaka ginawa lang namin ‘yung pinapraktis namin,” he said after the match.
It was indeed an opener for the books with Clarito himself among those at the center, much to the joy of the 10,412 fans in attendance–the third all-time largest crowd in this venue, per PBA stats chief Fidel Mangonon III.
Aside from Clarito, no less than Rain or Shine head coach Yeng Guiao himself expressed delight to have given the audience a game to remember.
“This is a really good game for the fans. Kasi natutuwa ako na ‘pag pinapanood nila ‘yung Rain or Shine, manalo o matalo, nag-e-enjoy sila. Kampi man sila sa amin o hindi, gusto ko lang mag-enjoy ‘yung mga fans,” he said.
