TNT regained its bearings with a near-perfect game, scoring a runaway 100-87 victory over San Miguel that levelled the PBA Philippine Cup Finals at 2-2 on Sunday.
Jayson Castro took over for the Tropang Giga with 26 big points to steer the team to the Game 4 win fashioned out before a crowd of 10,569 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
[See Fajardo back as Best Player of PBA Philippine Cup]
Castro was 10-of-13 from the field and added six rebounds and four assists for the defending champions, who committed a league record low of three turnovers in 48 minutes of a game that saw the return of coach Chot Reyes for TNT.
The win which levelled the best-of-seven series at 2-2, also spoiled the special night of June Mar Fajardo, who clinched the Best Player of the Conference award earlier.
"Coach Chot said turnovers were key for us. We had a lot of turnovers, 24 the last game. So that’s the no. 1 on the list heading towards this game," said interim coach Sandy Arespacochaga, who showed up in the post-game interview as Reyes headed straight to Gilas Pilipinas practice.
The three turnovers were the least committed by any team, erasing the previous record of four shared by Sta. Lucia in Game 4 of the 2008 Philippine Cup finals against Purefoods, TNT (2015 Commissioner's Cup), and Shell (2004-05 Philippine Cup).
Castro and Mikey Williams spearheaded the Tropang Giga's hot start, with the sophomore guard scoring eight in the opening period and his veteran backcourt partner exploding for 10 in the second quarter, allowing the team to take a 34-16 lead in the first half.
Even though San Miguel would manage to comeback and even take a 54-53 lead, TNT was just too poised to crack under pressure as Castro and Poy Erram scored seven straight unaswered points to give the team back the lead at 60-54.
Roger Pogoy continued his solid play for TNT with 21 points, marking the fourth straight game he finished with 20 points or more, while the Williamses - Mikey and Kelly - combined for 29 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists.
Fajardo meanwhile, came a rebound short of completing a second straight 20-20 game for San Miguel with 20 points and 19 rebounds on 8-of-15 shooting from the field.
Simon Enciso finished with 15 points to complement Fajardo in what had been his best game so far in the finals.
Game 5 is slated Wednesday also at the Big Dome.
The scores
TNT (100) -- Castro 26, Pogoy 21, M.Williams 15, K.Williams 14, Erram 8, Khobuntin 7, Montalbo 3, Rosario 2, Marcelo 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, Reyes 0, Alejandro 0.
San Miguel (87) -- Fajardo 20, Enciso 15, Lassiter 14, Perez 13, Tautuaa 13, Cruz 6, Brondial 3, Ross 2, Manuel 1, Herndon 0, Pessumal 0.
Quarterscores:18-9; 43-36; 72-63; 100-87.
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