Games tomorrow:
(Ynares Center-Antipolo)
5:15 p.m. — Rain or Shine vs Ginebra
7:30 p.m. — TNT vs Meralco
Chris McCullough vowed to be better once he’s fully adjusted to TNT as a replacement import.
He stayed true to his promise with a monster performance to carry the defending champion to a 103-95 Game 5 victory over Meralco and regain the lead in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven semifinals on Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
McCullough exploded for 42 points, including 10 straight in a pivotal fourth quarter run that gave Tropang 5G a significant advantage on their way to a 3-2 semis lead.
“I was just being aggressive. I just needed a day to get acclimated, shoot my shots and just go and get aggressive,” said McCullough, who flew in just last Sunday to fill the huge shoes left by injured 7-foot-3 super import Bol Bol.
The balik-import, who led San Miguel Beer to the throne in the same conference in 2019, shot an efficient 16-of-28 from the field and grabbed 11 rebounds for TNT, which shared the ball well with 23 assists.
Protecting an 88-85 advantage midway into the fourth quarter and with the Bolts playing without 7-foot reinforcement Patrick Gardner due to five fouls, McCullough wreaked havoc.
He hit back-to-back three-pointers before following it up with consecutive baskets in a personal 10-6 run for a 98-91 advantage with three minutes left.
Jordan Heading nailed five straight points to push TNT to a double-digit lead 103-93 with 1:32 left and never looked back.
TNT will try to close out the showdown on Sunday at the Ynares Center-Antipolo to advance to its fifth straight finals appearance.
Game 7, if necessary, is on Wednesday back at the Big Dome.
“Our defensive game plan was to get good shots because last game we had so many turnovers that we gave up 26 points off turnovers. You cannot defend a turnover, that’s very hard. To help our defense, we had to make sure we got good shots. That means we’re making shots and we’re not throwing the ball and turning the ball over. I think that’s what happened in the fourth quarter,” TNT head coach Chot Reyes said.
Heading had 22 points and six assists, RR Pogoy and Calvin Oftana chipped in 16 and 12 points, respectively, for the Tropang 5G.
It was a nip-and-tuck first half with no team taking a double-digit lead.
TNT went up, 20-11, in the first quarter but failed to sustain its momentum and allowed Meralco to fight back with a huge second quarter rally to snatch the driver’s seat, 40-35, off a Chris Banchero jumper with 4:09 left.
The Bolts took a slim, 42-41, advantage heading into the halftime break.
Gardner, who got his fifth foul with still over six minutes left in the payoff period and sat on the bench until the last two minutes, finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds for Meralco.
Chris Banchero had 12 points and Cliff Hodge added 12 and 10 boards in a lost cause for the Bolts.
