JAMIKE Jarin preached consistency after Phoenix blew yet another game in the PBA Philippine Cup after leading by a huge margin at the half.
The bad habit bit the Fuel Masters again on Wednesday night opposite TNT when they failed to protect a 23-point lead and suffered a morale-damaging 108-101 loss at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium
READ TNT Tropang Giga climb out of 23-point hole to deny Phoenix
The loss sent Phoenix going down at 3-6. And though the team remained in contention for a quarterfinals berth, it needs to sweep its games against Meralco and Blackwater to have a chance.
“We have to focus on the next games, that’s the most important one,” said Jarin.
While Jarin appeared quite satisfied with the way the team has been shooting from beyond the arc the past two games, he stressed at the same time the need to keep the form until the endgame.
“We played like it was night and day. The way we played we had a great run in the first half, but nobody wins in the first half, di ba,” he said.
“In the second half, they made adjustments and they made their shots. We didn’t make our shots. So we have to give credit to them.”
The Fuel Masters were on fire in the first two quarters, hitting 10-of-18 from beyond the arc for a 55.6 percent clip.
That allowed them to take a 62-39 lead with 29 seconds left before the break.
Come the second half though, Phoenix’s outside shooting suddenly went cold.
The Tropang Giga checked the Fuel Masters’ three point shooting that saw them convert just 2-of-14 from three-point range in the final two quarters.
TNT also outscored Phoenix in the third quarter, 42-19, behind the guns of Roger Pogoy, Calvin Oftana, Kelly Williams, and Kim Aurin to finally wrest the lead at 84-81, going to the final 12 minutes.
“We need to finish games,” said Jarin of the Phoenix collapse, which had been the case before in its games against San Miguel, Northport, and Magnolia.
“We have some good momentum coming into halftime, and then all of a sudden, we just lost our momentum.”
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