IT was indeed, one big victory Air21 pulled off against crowd favourite Barangay Ginebra on Wednesday night in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
But veteran big man Asi Taulava said the Express can’t be too caught up by the their 97-95 upset that sent them into a tie for fourth to fifth spots in the standings.
With an even 3-3 record, Taulava said the Express now have a greater chance to secure a playoff berth provided they win at least two of their last three games in the shortened elimination round.
“We just can’t relax, can’t be too excited on what happened to us. We have to be consistent, focused, though now with three more games, hopefully, we can get two of our last three and get to the playoffs,” Taulava told Spin.ph after the game.
The 41-year-old Taulava logged in 35 minutes, scored nine points and grabbed 13 boards, the last of which formally clinched for Air21 the win after Ginebra import Leon Rodgers missed the potential game-tying shot in the dying seconds.
The one-time league Most Valuable Player said the team simply had to learn the hard lessons of blowing away leads in the endgame the way it did against defending champion Alaska and just last Sunday against Meralco.
“We just need to finish very well. We finally had the lead again, but for some reasons, we kept dropping our guards,” shared the player nicknamed `Rock’.
“We blew it against Alaska and Meralco. But tonight we did a better job against Ginebra.”
Taulava said with a two-week break before Air21 swings back to action on April 9 against San Mig Super Coffee, the Express will have to keep working on their defense as they try to make one big push for a playoff berth.
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