TNT shows Blackwater no mercy

TNT kept its hot streak blazing with a 108-82 blowout of also-ran Blackwater for a sixth straight win in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup Friday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

Simon Enciso found his range from downtown, unloading five three-pointers to finish with 19 points as the Tropang 5G improved to a 6-3 win-loss record and increased their chances of landing in the Top Four spot for quarterfinals twice-to-beat advantage.

The grand slam-seeking TNT clamped down on defense in the second quarter to limit the Bossing to just 18 points.

“It doesn’t change with our team. It starts with our defense. I think we played tremendous defense in this (winning) run as was reflected in our past few games,” TNT coach Chot Reyes said.

The mentor praised the effort of his wards to hold down Blackwater’s field goal shooting to just 36.6 percent.

“We have in our team what we also call our hustle stats, where we track the numbers that don’t show up in the box scores. We make sure that we are constantly improving our numbers there. I think it’s being manifested in the way we defend,” Reyes said.

Enciso’s torrid shooting from the outside rubbed off on his teammates with TNT raining 16 three-pointers.

Ageless Kelly Williams had 15 points and seven rebounds, Calvin Oftana scored 14, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser had 12 points while JP Erram and Kim Aurin added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Tropang 5G.

Ganuelas-Rosser gave TNT its biggest lead, 94-65, with his lone triple with 8:21 left in the game.

The Tropang 5G began to pull away in the second quarter, outscoring Blackwater, 30-18, for a 54-40 advantage at halftime after a slim two-point separation to end the first 12 minutes of action.

Enciso hit a triple to spark a decisive 11-0 run that he capped with another trey for a 47-34 lead with 4:13 left in the second quarter.

TNT was never threatened from there as it kept its distance despite Reyes emptying his bench to give his seldom-used players minutes on the floor.

The Bossing suffered a sixth straight defeat for a 1-8 mark tied with NorthPort.

Christian David saw his 13 points and 13 rebounds go to waste while Sedrick Barefield also had 13 points in a losing effort.

The Scores:

TNT (108) — Enciso 19, K.Williams 15, Oftana 14, Ganuelas-Rosser 12, Erram 11, Aurin 10, Pogoy 9, Khobuntin 6, Vosotros 6, Nieto 4, Ebona 2, Heruala 0, Varilla 0.

BLACKWATER (82) — David 13, Barefield 13, Mallilin 9, AYonayon 9, Ilagan 8, Tratter 6, Chua 6, Caperal 5, Andrade 3, Mitchell 2, Guinto 2, Escoto 2, Corteza 2, Jopia 2, Casio 0.

QUARTERS: 24-22, 54-40, 87-61, 108-82.