PROLIFIC import Rondae Hollis Jefferson sat this one out with a bruised bone on his right ankle and Calvin Oftana made an early exit due to a busted lip.
No problem, though, as TNT's local complement proved more than up to the task in its all-Filipino clash with NorthPort to end the PBA Governors' Cup preliminaries.
In his best game since returning from a year-long layoff due to knee injury, Poy Erram banged in 17 points with 13 rebounds and four assists as the Tropang Giga roared past also-ran NorthPort, 99-79, Sunday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Rey Nambatac, their pre-season trade acquisition, produced 15 and 11, while RR Pogoy shot 14 spiked by three triples and Henry Galinato had 11 and Kelly Williams made 9-8 in the 20-point demolition job that enabled TNT to finish the elims with 8-2 for No. 1 seed in Group A.
Erram served as the fire-starter with his putback off a Pogoy miss igniting a telling 14-2 bombardment early in the fourth en route to the runaway W that also brought the defending champions back to the groove after falling to an ambush at the hands of erstwhile winless Terrafirma, 72-84, last game.
Sponsored content: "Laging sinasabi ni coach (Chot Reyes) next man up mentality. You're here sa team for a reason. That's why everytime na may mga injured, may mangyayari, or nagkakasakit man, 'yun ang mentality namin. Everybody in our team is always ready to perform when his name is called," said Erram.
Though it's a non-bearing assignment in terms of the protagonists' status in the playoffs, coach Chot Reyes' troops got a good workout from it.
"We didn't even score 80 points against Terrafirma. And so we had to go back and take a look at what we could do to improve. And I thought we saw some positives today. We're able to score better even without Rondae," said Reyes.
"Our offensive efficiency has to pick up for the playoffs while at the same time keeping our defensive intensity," he added. (OL)
The Scores :
Sponsored content: TNT 99 - Erram 17, Nambatac 15, Pogoy 14, Galinato 11, Williams 9, Oftana 7, Castro 6, Khobuntin 5, Ebona 4, Vosotros 3, Payawal 3, Heruela 2, Varilla 2, Exciminiano 1.
NORTHPORT 79 - Tolentino 24, Flores 18, Onwubere 7, Jalalon 6, Yu 5, Navarro 5, Amores 4, Nelle 3, Munzon 2, Taha 2, Cuntapay 2, Tratter 0, Bulanadi 0.
QUARTERS : 19-25, 43-36, 65-60, 99-79
