ANTIPOLO – Rondae Hollis-Jefferson registered a triple double and TNT outclassed Meralco, 110-80, on Friday at the Ynares Center to draw first blood in their 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup semifinals.
Hollis-Jefferson asserted his presence early and ended up with 22 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists to carry TNT to a one-sided win that gives the team plenty of confidence heading to Game Two of the best-of-five series on Sunday, also at the Ynares Center.
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TNT looked the fresher team after coming off a one-day break from the quarterfinals, leading by as many as 31 points in the wire-to-wire victory against a Meralco side that needed overtime to put away Magnolia on Wednesday.
Hollis-Jefferson already had 10 points, four rebounds, and six assists at the end of the first quarter. The TNT import was only one rebound and two assist shy from the triple double when the Tropang GIGA went ahead, 57-45, at the half.
The Tropang GIGA outscored the Bolts, 35-21, in the third to pull away even further.
Roger Pogoy continued his stellar shooting after scoring 21 points while onverting five of his eight shots from three-point land. Calvin Oftana had a near double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds.
Scoring was hard to come by for Meralco as KJ McDaniels finished with 12 points and 14 rebounds, and Chris Newsome was 10 points after his 33-point effort in the quarterfinal win against Magnolia.
TNT coach Jojo Lastimosa said there was a concerted effort to match the energy of Meralco.
“We know that Meralco is a very hardworking team. If we can only match their energy and intensity, we will be okay because I know that we can score but my concern was, 'Can we match up with their defense?,'” said Lastimosa.
Meralco ended up making only 36 percent of their shots in the first half.
“That was pretty good defense in the first half,” said Lastimosa.
The scores:
TNT 110 – Hollis-Jefferson 22, Pogoy 21, Oftana 15, M. Williams 14, Castro 12, Khobuntin 7, Tungcab 6, Montalbo 5, Chua 4, Erram 4, Cruz 0, Acuno 0, Varilla 0, Marcelo 0, Ganuelas-Rosser 0.
Meralco 80 – McDaniels 12, Quinto 11, Newsome 10, Almazan 10, Hodge 9, Jose 9, Black 7, Dario 5, Johnson 3, Hugnatan 2, Maliksi 2, Banchero 0, Caram 0, Pasaol 0, Rios 0, Pascual 0.
Quarters: 31-19; 57-45; 92-66; 110-80.
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