MAGNOLIA import Jabari Bird bulldozed his way to the hoop, took a hard contact from Rain or Shine forward Jhonard Clarito but still scored on a layup last night, leaving Clarito and teammate Andrei Caracut flabbergasted under the basket.

Bolstered by that move and their fiery outside shooting, the Hotshots zapped the Elasto Painters 129-100 in Game 4 of their best-of-5 quarterfinals battle and forced a deciding match in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.

Bird’s bucket padded the Hotshots’ lead to an insurmountable 114-89 count and drew Clarito’s sixth and final foul with 5:19 remaining. Bird celebrated with Magnolia fans on the baseline. Why not?

The emphatic triumph atoned for Magnolia’s painful and emotional 106-111 overtime loss to Rain or Shine in Game 3 three nights ago and sent the series to a sudden death this Saturday, Oct. 5, at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.

The survivor of this Last Eight showdown will take on either defending champion TNT or NLEX in a best-of-7 semifinals duel.

With a 2-1 lead, the Tropang Giga clashed with the Road Warriors in the fourth tiff at press time last night.

Hotshots coach Chito Victolero was doubly pleased with the bounce back mindset his charges turned into game.

“Thankful to the players because of the mindset, of the focus. Nandoon sa board, sa start ng pre-game preparations namin is about believing. In order for us to win the war, we need to grind out for 53 minutes,” Victolero said. “I think my players were so focused and they wanted to have another chance on Saturday.

“Nag-start sa akin. After Game 3, I talked to the players and told them to forget everything. Out of control, not only me, but buong team halos. We talked about it—all the frustrations na nangyari ay kakalimutan namin,” he added.

Bird notched a game-high 30 points, to go with four rebounds and two assists, while Paul Lee typified the Hotshots’ sizzling shooting with 25 markers on three four-pointers and a triple. He also grabbed three boards and issued six dimes.

Jerrick Ahanmisi boomed in two fours and a trey and finished with 14 points while Mark Barroca and Ian Sangalang combined for 20 markers for Magnolia, which went 5-of-9 from the four-point country and 9-of-24 from threes.

Thriving in the do-or-die tussle, the Hotshots zoomed to a 62-44 advantage at the halfway mark.

Magnolia was still comfortably ahead 99-79 going into the fourth canto.

Reinforcement Aaron Fuller made two free throws that shoved the Painters to within 87-102 with 9:15 to go but that proved to be Rain or Shine’s most noteworthy stand.

Fuller paced the Painters with 22 points and 10 caroms while Clarito had 15 and five.

Adrian Nocum, Beau Belga, Caracut, and Gian Mamuyac contributed 11, 11, 11, and 10 markers, respectively, for Rain or Shine.

With the series down to a no-tomorrow match, expect the protagonists to leave everything on the court in Game 5.