DEFENDING champion TNT, led by coach Chot Reyes and reigning best import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, looked calm, composed, and undeterred when they headed to their dugout trailing 39-43 at the half.
They knew they could get the job done against Rain or Shine last Wednesday night.
“We were down by four (at the half), but I felt the pace was in our favor,” Reyes said. “We missed a few lay-ups, we made some mistakes, turnovers that led to their fastbreak points, that’s why they had a four-point lead.
“But by and large, we were very happy with the pace of the game and how the game was going at halftime even when we were down four.
“All I said at halftime is we have them where we want them, so relax and go into the second half and execute what we practice,” he added.
True enough, the Tropang Giga fashioned a 90-81 victory over the Elasto Painters in Game 1 of their best-of-7 semifinals showdown in the PBA Governors’ Cup.
For Hollis-Jefferson, who starred for TNT with a near triple-double of 26 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists, Rain or Shine pushed him to the limit.
“I don’t think it was easy. They really had a good game plan. I turned the ball over the most, I think, this conference. Part of it was being off seven days, washing off that rust,” Hollis-Jefferson said.
“Part of it was that they played really hard. They played physical. They challenged me.”
Roger Pogoy added 16 markers and six boards while former Painter Rey Namtabac had 14 for the Tropang Giga. Calvin Oftana also chimed in 11 points and 10 caroms as TNT did an encore to a 125-106 whipping of NLEX in the fourth game of their quarterfinal series last Oct. 1.
Rain or Shine went into the game armed with a close out 113-103 victory over Magnolia last Saturday.
The Tropang Giga lost veteran big man Kelly Williams in the first quarter due to a calf injury in what was a dampener to their rather blazing Last Four opener.
“Unfortunately, when he (Williams) missed that wide-open lay-up? He tweaked something on his (left) calf muscle. We hope it’s nothing serious, but he couldn’t put any weight on it. I think the left calf muscle, he couldn’t put any weight on it, and you know that Kelly is our primary import defender,” Reyes said. “We need a lot from him. So, we’re praying it’s something that he can recover from. It was Kelly who said that he felt something, so when our physical therapist examined it, that’s the initial diagnosis.
“Of course, they’re going to do an ultrasound or whatever to get a better understanding of what’s really going on. That’s the reason we sat him out. He really felt something in his calf from the start, so we had to replace him.”
The Painters now need to regroup to avoid a big 0-2 hole in Game 2 set today at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
