BY NOLI CORTEZ

COACH Ryan Gregorio didn’t exactly know what to expect when Purefoods played its first game in 12 days and second overall in 22 last night.

His concern proved to be grossly unfounded as the Giants manhandled Coca-Cola 101-87 to book an automatic semifinals seat in the Smart PBA Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.

James Yap tied his conference-high 29 points and three of his teammates chipped in at least 12 as Purefoods improved its league-leading win-loss record to 12-4 with still two games left in its eliminations schedule.

Only 10-6 Sta. Lucia Realty, which was playing 9-7 Magnolia in the other game last night, can move into a tie with Purefoods at 12-6. But the Giants will still the take top spot since they have defeated the Realtors twice.

Alaska also has 10 wins but can never catch Purefoods by the time the eliminations end.

"We wanted to put our spirit to the test," said Gregorio. "We will not wait for our last two games to get that 12th win and we went into this game with a playoff mentality."

There was definitely no rust at all in the Giants’ system despite having played last on Christmas Day and, before that, on Dec. 15.

"I told the boys that if we allow ourselves to be rusty then rust will show, that rust is just a state of mind," he related.

Peter June Simon gave Purefoods the early boost it needed by scattering 13 of his 19 points in the first half while other sustaining fire were provided by the likes of Jondan Salvador, Roger Yap and Kerby Raymundo, who had nine points and 10 boards.

Such a balanced offensive attack proved too much for Coca-Cola to handle as it absorbed its 10th defeat in 16 games despite Asi Taulava’s 20 points and nine rebounds and the 18 points and five assists by Alex Cabagnot.

The Tigers must win their last two games over Red Bull and Talk N Text and hope those will be enough to land them an automatic quarterfinals berth reserved for the Nos. 3 to 5 finishers.

The Tigers sure could use the fiery form that gave them a five-game winning streak in late November up to mid-December, but that was totally absent last night.

The Giants tore the game wide open right in the last 14 minutes of the first half and continued the unrelenting assault to lead by as much as 72-48 and 97-83, the last with only 2:50 remaining in the game.

"We wanted to play consistent ball with so much energy and if there was any concern about that, James quickly dispelled by hitting his mark and Romel (Adducul), Jondan and Kerby holding their own against Asi," said Gregorio.