WHILE Rondae Hollis-Jefferson will be playing his first-ever Game 7, he's looking forward to meeting the moment - and hoping that the result will be in his team’s favor.
“Even in the NBA, I didn’t make it (to) Game 7,” said Hollis-Jefferson, who had a six-year career in the NBA, including four with the Brooklyn Nets, a perennial playoff contender at that time.
“Second round, we lost to Boston by five or six. So yeah, I’ve never been in a Game 7.”
RHJ is eyeing his third PBA title on Friday when TNT battles Barangay Ginebra in a fitting conclusion to the 49th Season Commissioner’s Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Hollis-Jefferson had 20 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists in the Tropang Giga's 87-85 win in Game 6 to keep their title defense up and running.
In that game, however, the import got hurt diving into an advertising paraphernalia near the TNT bench. At the same time, he is already dealing with a pulled hamstring, according to sources of SPIN.ph’s Gerry Ramos.
“Looking forward to Game 7. It’s hard. Definitely a hard game. I dove on the floor, fell quite a bit (in Game 6), but it’s part of it. We want to win. It’s going to happen,” said Hollis-Jefferson.
TNT laser-focused
RHJ is proud of the effort of their entire team following the events of Game 5 with TNT reeling after head coach Chot Reyes and Poy Erram got into a verbal argument.
“At the end of the day, you want the game (Game 7),” said Hollis-Jefferson. “After a few games that we played, we felt down. A guy like Poy to have a good game, of course, it’s natural for him to feel good and in good spirits. Rey [Nambatac], just everybody, everybody feeling good for one another.”
“But the job for us will always stay the same. It’s not done until we win, until we win everything. And I feel like everybody understands that. We’re blessed to be in this position. We are grateful.”
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