TNT was generally successful in containing RJ Abarrientos in Game 2 of the PBA 50th Season Commissioner’s Cup finals to even the best-of-seven series on Friday night.
Abarrientos was limited to a single point in the first quarter where the Gin Kings fell early, 27-12.
The Best Player of the Conference candidate later hit his shots in the second half, but his effort came late as TNT defeated Barangay Ginebra, 101-94, to even the series.
READ: Hot-starting TNT holds off Ginebra to even finals series
TNT’s versatile big man Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser was the first to defend Abarrientos in an effort to slow the Ginebra guard down as much as possible, but Tropang 5G coach Chot Reyes said it was a tough assignment.
“We just wanted to put some length on RJ because he is playing at a very high level,” said Reyes on putting BGR on Abarrientos early.
Abarrientos still wound up with 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting from the field, making five threes in the Game 2 defeat, just a reflection of how difficult it was to guard him.
“Malibre ng konti, shoot talaga eh, whether three points or four points,” Reyes said. “We really can’t stop a player like that. Our best bet is let him work for his points, bother his shots a little bit. Hopefully, he will miss a few. We know he is not going to miss much. But in the end, that’s all we can do."
Reyes said it is going to be a non-stop process for TNT to find ways to limit Abarrientos with the Tropang 5G expecting the Gin Kings guard to bounce back from the Game 2 loss.
“We can do our best to stay in front and make it difficult for him. That’s a basketball adage," Reyes said.
"Great offense is always going to beat great defense and RJ has surely been showing that for the last four games na since the last two games of the semis up to tonight. It’s something for us to continue to think about."
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