LUCENA - Pulled out of the bench to come in for a foul-plagued Baser Amer, John Pinto only wanted to provide solid minutes in the little time he's getting for Meralco.
But in his first play on the floor, he lost the ball and it led to an easy Scottie Thompson layup.
"Na-frustrate ako," admitted Pinto, visibly irked with his miscue as coach Norman Black immediately sued for time.
"Sabi ko kailangan ko ayusin yung sarili ko kasi unang pasok ko pa lang, first possession, nag-error na ako. Kinausap ko na yung sarili ko na 'Uy, gising.' Syempre kailangan nating tumulong sa team."
Pinto woke up after that timeout and drilled four triples, sparking the Bolts' early pullaway that gave them a 36-19 headway in the first quarter.
That early explosion came as a surprise even for Pinto, yet insisted that he's no stranger to hitting shots from deep. It's just that on Friday, he had four in succession.
"Syempre parang nagulat ako, kasi ang role ko naman dito is to defend," the 5-foot-11 Pinto said. "Nagulat ako, pero sa practice naman ginagawa ko talaga yun everyday. Di naman sa pagmamalaki, pero nagshu-shooting ako before ng practice kaya siguro nadala ko rin yung ginagawa ko."
Pinto could no longer add to that scoring output and wound up 4 for 7 shooting from beyond the arc.
It hardly mattered as that quick eruption was more than enough as Meralco equalized the 2019 PBA Governors' Cup Finals to one game apiece with a 104-102 win over Ginebra.
"Ang sarap," remarked the former Arellano playmaker, who also had four assists and two rebounds in 16 minutes of action.
"Sabi ko kahit di na ko maka-shoot, basta manalo lang. Dasal ako ng dasal dun kasi must-win kami dito eh. Kailangan naming manalo para ma-tie yung series dahil mahirap na kasi pag na-0-2 kami."
True enough, Pinto is realistic in acknowledging that stretches like those may not occur again in this series.
But just like his attitude the moment he got in the PBA, the 29-year-old is just prepared to seize the moment whenever his number gets called.
"Hindi natin alam kung mauuulit ko yun, basta ako ready lang ako lagi," he said, proud to be part of the bench mob that played the x-factor and produced 29 points in this series-tying duel.
"Nung Game One, kaya siguro natalo kami kasi yung second group wala talagang naitulong. So ngayon, lahat naman kami. Si Nico (Salva), si Anjo (Caram), nagtulong-tulong kami para makuha namin yung panalo."
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