ANTIPOLO CITY - TNT played true to form as the league's elite and defensive team even outperformed Barangay Ginebra as a highly-efficient shooter from beyond the arc.
This lethal combo cleared the way for the defending champion Tropang Giga to score a runaway 104-88 romp and grab a 1-0 running start against the Gin Kings in the PBA Season 49 Governors' Cup title series Sunday night before a record 11,021 crowd at the Ynares Center.
The Tropang Giga held the usually offensive-savvy Gin Kings to 18 points less than their regular 48-minute norm of 106.5 markers, along the way holding the latter's three-point shooting to a lowly 9.5 percent (2-of-21) - way off its league-best 37 percent clip prior.
"We know the strength of Ginebra. We looked at the numbers and we focused really on that - taking away their strengths and really making sure we lean on our strength which is our ability to stop teams and play defense," said coach Chot Reyes whose squad put itself in position to go 2-0 on Wednesday when the best-of-seven series shifts to the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
While clamping Gin Kings down, the Tropang Giga made a killing from trey, knocking down 12 of their 30 attempts (40 percent).
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Reyes' troops made three of these long bombs in the first, where they stormed to a 19-5 tear before settling for a 27-15 upperhand after the initial 12 minute period. The Gin Kings battled back to within 37-43 in the second but Jayson Castro and Rey Nambatac delivered 12 apiece in the third and fourth, respectively, to widen the gap anew and bring TNT to the finish line.
"When we got off to a good start defensively, I think that set the tone for the game and there's no secret to our game - it's really our defense. I think defense really won it for us," said Reyes.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson turned in 19 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocks to show the way for TNT, which also drew major contributions from the locals.
In a brilliant finals debut, Nambatac logged a double-double of 18 points and 10 boards, to go with seven dimes and two steals while JP Erram added 15 and Castro shot 14.
Brownlee posted 23-6-3 in a losing effort for Ginebra in the opener that's expected to raise aP1.5 to P2 million for victims of severe tropical storm Kristine.
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The sellout crowd shattered the old mark at Ynares of 10,952 recorded back in 2011 Philippine Cup quarterfinals featuring a double-header pitting Ginebra versus Rain or Shine and Petron against Meralco. This augurs well for the fund-raising drive of the league, which has allotted the earnings of its ticket sales here in full for the donations to storm victims through TV5's Alagang Kapatid Foundation.
The scores:
TNT 104 - Hollis-Jefferson 19, Nambatac 18, Erram 15, Castro 14, Pogoy 12, Oftana 9, Aurin 8, Khobuntin 5, Williams 2, Heruela 2, Payawal 0, Galinato 0.
Ginebra 88 - Brownlee 23, J.Aguilar 14, Cu 13, Holt 12, Ahanmisi 10, Thompson 7, Abarrientos 5, Pinto 2, Tenorio 2, Pessumal 0, Mariano 0, Adamos 0.
Quarterscores: 27-15, 43-37, 72-62, 104-88
