LADY Luck smiled on TNT anew Friday as it bucked the loss of two key players and a dry spell in the stretch to beat Rain or Shine, 93-91, to go 2-0 up in their PBA Commissioner's Cup semifinals duel at the PhilSports Arena.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson fouled out with still 5:36 to go and Jayson Castro was taken out of the game by a knee injury with still 3:07 to go. Making it more alarming was the fact the Tropang Giga actually failed to score inside the last 6:22 of the game.
Good thing the Elasto Painters failed to fully pounce on the opportunity, going 0-of-5 from the field and committing a turnover after coming within 91-93, still 2:33 left.
Like in his side's 88-84 escape in the best-of-seven series' opener last Wednesday, TNT coach Chot Reyes put all the credit on his team's ability to make the stops that mattered. "It's just our ability to go to our strength, which is our defense," he said.
"Without Rondae and without Jayson, our two closers, in fact our two highest scorers in this game, both of them out, then it is incumbent upon our defense to hold the fort."
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Reyes also gave props to Rain or Shine for refusing to give up despite falling behind by as many as 54-70 while also lauding the way his charges stood their ground.
"They were doing a great job, they defended Roger (Pogoy) really well, Calvin (Oftana) very well, forcing us to miss even easy shots, layups," noted Reyes.
"But in the end, even if we miss, at least we were not giving up fastbreak points, which is the strength of Rain or Shine. Like I said, if we force them into a halfcourt (game) then we have a better chance of defending them and that's what happened in the end."
Hollis-Jefferson led TNT with 28 points and 10 rebounds with Castro chipping in 13 points, five rebounds and as many dimes before tweaking his right knee during a hard drive to the basket.
Poy Erram added 11 points and seven boards while Kim Aurin and Kelly Williams, who combined for four points in the opener, hooked up for 18 in making up for Pogoy netting only 10 points and Oftana seven after 22 markers in Game 1.
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Deon Thompson paced Rain or Shine anew with 22 points and 14 rebounds while Adrian Nocum again was main backstop with 19 points. They were responsible for bringing the E-Painters back from an 80-93 deficit to within two.
Rain or Shine even got a chance to at least tie when Pogoy was called for an inbounding violation in the dying seconds. But Nocum missed a baseline jumper.(NC)
The Scores :
TNT 93 - Hollis-Jefferson 28, Castro 13, Erram 11, Pogoy 10, Aurin 10, Williams 8, Oftana 7, Nambatac 3, Khobuntin 3.
RAIN OR SHINE 91 - Thompson 22, Nocum 19, Mamuyac 11, Tiongson 10, Clarito 9, Caracut 7, Datu 7, Santillan 6, Asistio 0, Belga 0.
QUARTERS: 24-24, 54-44, 81-75, 93-91
