MANILA, Philippines -- Raymond Almazan continues to work his way back to full fitness for Rain or Shine, after missing their first two games of the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup due to an ankle injury.

The defensive-minded big man played over 21 minutes on Sunday, when the Elasto Painters took on the Alaska Aces at the Mall of Asia Arena. He had 10 points on six shots, along with 4 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in the game.

And in what can only be a good sign for the big man, he threw down a dunk midway through the third quarter for a 57-39 ROS lead.

Rain or Shine coach Caloy Garcia is pleased with the progress that Almazan is making.

"He's slowly getting back," the coach said of Almazan, who trains with Gilas Pilipinas as well aside from his mother club.

"Medyo 'yun nga, medyo kinakapos pa 'yung hangin niya," he added.

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But Rain or Shine can afford to ease Almazan slowly. Even with their defensive anchor averaging just 16 minutes per game, the E-Painters are still 4-1 in the conference, with victories over Barangay Ginebra and San Miguel already.

Garcia has spread the wealth in terms of playing time and scoring opportunities; no Rain or Shine player is seeing over 28 minutes per game.

"He (Almazan) can see that other players are stepping up, kaya if you look at the playing time of the players, hati-hati talaga sila," said the coach. "So we tried to give at least equal opportunities to everybody."

Almazan is currently averaging 5.67 points and 4.67 rebounds per game for the E-Painters.

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