By REYNALD MAGALLON
TNT buckled down on the defensive end and had Rain or Shine without any field goal in the last two minutes to complete an 88-84 escape in Game 1 of their semifinals series in the PBA Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, Feb. 26.
The Tropang Giga had big games from Calvin Oftana and Jayson Castro but it was their defense that did it, pulling all the necessary stops to get the head start in the best-of-seven affair.
Save for a pair of free throws from Andrei Caracut at the 1:59 mark, the Elasto Painters were held scoreless in the waning minutes as TNT’s tough interior defense anchored on JP Erram and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson proved to be a tough nut to crack.
The Tropa even completed four consecutive stops to end the game – first, an Erram block on Caelan Thompson and then followed by back-to-back steals from RR Pogoy and Hollis-Jefferson to slam the door on the comeback efforts of the Elasto Painters.
Castro, on the other hand, took care of the offense, firing 13 of his 24 points in the second half when TNT, somehow, got into the driver’s seat after trailing by as many as nine in the first two quarters
Oftana, fresh from his Gilas Pilipinas duties in the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers, immediately made his presence felt and kept TNT afloat through its first half struggles, pouring 12 of his 22 in the second frame.
Hollis-Jefferson struggled with his shooting after going 0-for-7 from deep but did just enough to still finish with 23 points to go with 13 rebounds, five assists and four blocks.
Meanwhile, there was simply no sign of fatigue whatsoever for Justin Brownlee.
After carrying the cudgels for Gilas Pilipinas in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, the hardworking import put in the defensive work against Arvin Tolentino as Barangay Ginebra shut down NorthPort, 115-93, in Game 1 of their own semis series.
Brownlee and the rest of the Kings made Tolentino, the league Best Player of the Conference frontrunner, bleed for his points, setting the tone to Ginebra’s statement start to their best-of-seven affair.
Tolentino only had eight points on 2-of-11 shooting, typifying the offensive struggles for the top seed Batang Pier who only had import Kadeem Jack as the lone bright spot for the team with 33 points
As effective as he was on the defensive end, Brownlee still led the way in scoring for Ginebra with 19 points although he got ample support from the rest of the crew with Troy Rosario and RJ Abarrientos also finishing in double figures.
Rosario had 16 points and eight rebounds while Abarrientos orchestrated the attack with 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
Jamie Malonzo also had his best game since his return from a calf injury with 14 while Japeth Aguilar chipped in 11 points and seven rebounds.
