THERE’S no stopping NLEX Road Warriors — for now.

Umport KJ McDaniels struck hardest with 34 points and 13 rebounds as NLEX demolished Terrafirma Dyip, 116-86, in the PBA Governors’ Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

McDaniels was at his best during a decisive breakway halfway in the third quarter enroute to another lopsided win in the import-flavored conference.

More importantly, NLEX matched its best-ever 4-0 start set during the 2017 edition of the same tournament while finishing short of the franchise’s biggest winning margin set when it handed San Miguel Beer a 124-90 beatdown during the Philippine Cup bubble in Clark last year.

But NLEX coach Yeng Guiao claimed this is not yet the time to celebrate even with the perfect 4-0 record.

“Cautious optimism kami,” Guiao told the official PBA website.

“It’s a good sign, but we don’t want to be looking at ourselves like we’re in there and we’re contending. We’re just trying to get better every day. That’s the mentality,” added Guiao.

“If we can push this as far as we can, let’s see where it gets us.”

Kevin Alas added 20 points and two other NLEX players also scored 10 points or more to underscore the team’s balanced scoring.

Antonio Hester had 27 points and 11 rebounds forTerrafirma, which dropped to a 1-3 slate.

Juami Tiongson contributed 15 points in a losing cause fo the Dyip.

So one-sided was the match that Guiao even had the luxury of fielding in 48-year-old Asi Taulava.

“We were just looking for the opportunity to bring him into the game,” said Guiao.

In the second game, San Miguel Beer routed Blackwater, 107-88, to make it back-to-back victories.

The Beermen relied on CJ Perez (21 points) Marcio Lassiter (18), Vic Manuel (16), Terrence Romeo (13) and Simon Enciso (13) to roll back the Bossing.

Import Brandon Brown had 12 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and four steals for San Miguel, which also won over NorthPort.

Paul Desiderio topscored with 16 points for the Bossing, who fell to 0-4 in the conference and 0-23 overall dating back to the 2020 Philippine Cup.

The scores:

First game

NLEX (116) — McDaniels 34, Alas 20, Oftana 14, Rosales 10, Trollano 9, Quinahan 8, Paniamogan 5, Semerad 4, Magat 4, Galanza 3, Taulava 3, Cruz 2, Ighalo 0.
Terrafirma (86) — Hester 27, Tiongson 15, Adams 7, Pascual 7, Batiller 7, Ganuelas-Rosser 7, Cabagnot 5, Ramos 5, Melton 3, Camson 3, Calvo 0, Gabayni 0, Balagasay 0.
Quarterscores: 23-20, 47-47, 77-66, 116-86.

Second game

San Miguel (107) — Perez 21, Lassiter 18, Manuel 16, Romeo 13, Enciso 13, Brown 12, Fajardo 7, Pessumal 4, Zamar 3, Gotladera 0, Comboy 0, Tautuaa 0, Sena 0.
Blackwater (88) — Desiderio 16, McCarthy 14, Ebona 11, Baloria 10, Bond 9, Escoto 8, Chauca 7, Washington 6, McAloney 5, Daquioag 2, Paras 0.
Quarterscores: 35-22, 64-44, 80-66, 107-88.