Games Wednesday:
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
5:15 p.m. — San Miguel vs Ginebra
7:30 p.m. — TNT vs Meralco
TNT flexed its vaunted defense in the second half to overcome a 21-point deficit and pull off a 100-95 come-from-behind victory over stunned Meralco in Game 1 of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Philippine Cup semifinals Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Tropang 5G tightened the defensive screw in the last two quarters, including a crucial stop in the last 21 seconds while protecting a slim three-point lead to draw first blood in the best-of-seven series.
Calvin Oftana finished with 28 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field and pulled down seven rebounds, Rey Nambatac got 17 markers while RR Pogoy scored 11 of his 16 points in the third canto for TNT.
Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser added a double-double of 14 markers and 10 boards for the Tropang 5G, who will try to double their lead in the series on Wednesday.
“Basically what we said at halftime, we just challenged the players to defend one-on-one. I thought in the first half we were relying too much on our help defense and Meralco did a good job picking it apart. Credit to them they came up with a really good game plan,” TNT head coach Chot Reyes said.
The Tropang 5G allowed the Bolts to score 62 points in the first half and were ahead by 16 at the break.
TNT turned the tables around in the third by limiting Meralco to just 13 points while pouring 28 markers.
“So at half time, I told the players whatever defensive schemes we come up with if your man is going all the way to the rim, to the basket then no defensive game plan is going to work,” Reyes added.
“In the end, I just told them to be fundamental and defend the point of attack better.”
Oftana shattered a 91-91 deadlock by completing a three-point play before Ganuelas-Rosser’s basket for a 96-91 TNT lead. Back-to-back buckets from Chris Banchero and Chris Newsome closed Meralco’s gap to just one.
Oftana sank two charities before the Tropang 5G’s defense forced Jansen Rios to throw a wayward three with time winding down. Oftana put the finishing touches from the line sealing TNT’s 37-of-47 freethrow shooting.
Banchero had 16 points, CJ Cansino had 14 while Newsome and Raymond Almazan scored 13 for the Bolts.
Meralco, fresh from surviving two do-or-die games in the quarterfinals, went off to a smoking start.
The Bolts smothered the Tropang 5G on offense in the first half, scoring 38 points in the opening quarter.
Meralco erected its biggest lead at 21 after Newsome nailed a jumper with 5:35 left in the second quarter for a 52-31 count.