BARANGAY Ginebra and TNT opened their respective semifinals bid in contrasting fashion Wednesday night as action finally resumed in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup after a two-week break.
The Kings dominated no. 1 seed Northport Batang Pier from start to finish for a 115-93 win as coach Tim Cone and some Ginebra players hardly showed signs of fatigue following their stint with Gilas Pilipinas in the final window of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.
READ: Ginebra deals top seed NorthPort a demoralizing Game One loss
The Tropang Giga meanwhile, overcame the shooting woes of import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to escape past the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters, 88-84.
Both TNT and Ginebra will now eye for back-to-back wins in Friday’s Game 2 at the Philports Arena as the two teams try move closer to arranging another title showdown the way they did during the season-opening Governors’ Cup.
Here’s a quick takeaways in the opener of the two best-of-seven semis at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
1.DEADLY THREE-POINT SHOOTING SAVED DAY FOR TNT
As Hollis-Jefferson struggled from the field (8-of-27 including 0-for-7 from 3s), the Tropang Giga locals bombed from the outside to frustrate the Elasto Painters.
Jayson Castro, Calvin Oftana, and Roger Pogoy were a combined 14-of-19 from beyond the arc, where TNT actually finished with a high 41 shooting percentage (14-of-34). Rain or Shine went 9-of-33 from the same range, but coach Yeng Guiao admitted TNT’s three-point accuracy spelled the difference in Game 1.
2.DEON THOMPSON TAKES CARE OF BUSINESS INSIDE FOR ROS
Despite the loss, Guiao was pleased with the way the North Carolina product asserted himself at the frontcourt, finishing with a game-high 29 points, grabbing 16 rebounds, and netting two block shots.
He made mention about the Elasto Painters having a better rim protector this time than their previous semis encounter with the Tropang Giga during the Governors’ Cup. And it showed in the stats as Rain or Shine outrebounded TNT, 57-44, and outscored the Tropang Giga in the paint, 36-26.
It’s something the Elasto Painters will definitely take advantage as the series progresses.
3.STEPHEN HOLT SERVED AS ARVIN TOLENTINO STOPPER
Cone gave Holt the daunting task of holding down the high-scoring Tolentino on offense, and the sophomore guard accomplished the job in Game 1 as the prolific Northport forward only finished with eight points on 2-of-11 shooting from the field.
Heading to the semis, Tolentino normed 23.2 points and the game could have been a lot closer had he finished just around his averaged numbers. Holt meanwhile, had decent numbers of seven points, four rebounds, and four assists.
4.LACK OF LOCAL SUPPORT IN NORTHPORT’S FIRST SEMIS IN SIX YEARS
Only Joshua Munzon finished in double figures for the Batang Pier with 10 points to complement the game-high 33 points of import Kadeem Jack.
William Navarro also had eight like Tolentino, rookie Evan Nelle with seven, and Allyn Bulanadi finished with four, none of them playing a factor in the second half when Ginebra made headway and pulled away for good.
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