Games tomorrow:

(Philsports Arena)

5 p.m. — NorthPort vs Barangay Ginebra

7:30 p.m. — Rain or Shine vs TNT

TNT Tropang Giga flexed its vaunted defense with crucial stops in the closing stretch for an 88–84 victory over Rain or Shine to take Game 1 of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven semifinals series Wednesday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

With import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson shooting poorly from the field, veteran guard Jason Castro and Calvin Oftana picked up the scoring chore but it was the Tropang Giga’s defensive effort that allowed them to draw first blood.

The reigning Governors’ Cup champion shut down the Elasto Painters’ offense in the last 1:59 of the game after cutting their deficit to just three.

TNT, despite losing Castro with less than two minutes in the game, forced Rain or Shine to four straight turnovers including a steal by RR Pogoy off Andrei Caracut’s inbound pass with three ticks left off a timeout.

Elasto Painters head coach Yeng Guiao drew up a play for a potential game-tying four-point shot only to be spoiled by an errant pass.

“Our entire mindset was to make sure that our defense was on point because this was the top scoring team in the quarterfinals. Rain or Shine was averaging 115 coming into this ball game,” Tropang Giga coach Chot Reyes said.

Game 2 is on Friday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Castro, who was forced to sit out the remainder of the game after committing a flagrant foul penalty for inadvertently kicking Caracut’s left eye after losing the ball on a shot attempt, led TNT with 24 points. He shot 7-of-10 from the field including 6-of-7 from the three-point territory.

Oftana, who only joined TNT a couple of days ago after a tour of duty with Gilas Pilipinas in the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers third window on the road, added 22 points highlighted by six triples.

Hollis-Jefferson bled for his 23 points, going 8-of-27 from the field. He pulled down 13 rebounds and added five assists, four blocks and one steal without a single break, playing the whole 48 minutes.

“Rondae shot really poorly, he didn’t even hit 30 percent of his field goals and it was important that other guys stepped up. They (Rain or Shine) did a good job defending Rondae and when that happens we have to look for counters,” Reyes said.

“Jason and Calvin were the ones who provided that firepower coming off the bench.”

TNT used an 8-1 run capped by a Hollis-Jefferson turnaround jumper to take an 87-82 lead with 2:36 left.

Caracut nailed his two charities off Castro’s last foul but it would be the Elasto Painters’ last time to score.

The third period turned into a shootout with both teams breaking down defensively. Castro took advantage of Rain or Shine giving him open looks downtown with a punishing 3-of-3 triples as TNT sank five treys in the canto with the other two coming from Oftana.

Oftana erupted for 12 points in the second quarter after just making two in the opening period.

The Gilas mainstay connected all of his four three-point shots in the second canto. Down, 36-40, Oftana nailed four straight treys in his personal 12-4 blitz to give TNT a 48-44 advantage with 50 seconds left.

The scores:

TNT (88) — Castro 24, Hollis-Jefferson 23, Oftana 22, Pogoy 9, Nambatac 4, Aurin 2, Erram 2, Williams 2, Khobuntin 0, Heruela 0, Galinato 0.

RAIN OR SHINE (84) — Thompson 29, Nocum 18, Datu 9, Santillan 6, Clarito 6, Mamuyac 4, Caracut 3, Tiongson 3, Lemetti 3, Asistio 3, Norwood 0.

Quarters: 22-28, 51-47, 74-70, 88-84.