TNT moved one win away from its second finals appearance of the PBA 49th Season, beating Rain or Shine in Game 4, 93-85, on Wednesday in their Commissioner’s Cup semifinal showdown at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Calvin Oftana led the offensive onslaught for TNT with 26 points, while the Tropang Giga put the clamps down on Rain or Shine star guard Adrian Nocum after being limited to a conference low four points to step closer to another berth in the finals.
Champions of the Governors’ Cup last conference, TNT can clinch another finals berth with a win in Game 5 on Friday at the Big Dome.
Deon Thompson carried the fight for Rain or Shine with 44 points but had little support from the locals, sending the Elasto Painters to a 3-1 deficit in the best-of-seven series.
“Our pregame was very simple,” said TNT coach Chot Reyes. “I just challenged the players to be better. I just told them, be better screeners, better passers, better defenders, just make sure that you are better today and then, whatever happens, come what may, we are fine with it.
“But we just wanted to make sure that we play better today and put in better effort. So I think the players responded very well, great hustle players on our end, and I think in the end, that was the difference,” Reyes added.
Oftana got out of his shooting slump after going 7 of 21 from the field in the last two games but making 12 of his 21 shots in Game 4.
RR Pogoy had 22 points and four rebounds, while being one of the TNT players that defended Nocum in Game 4, while Rondae Hollis-Jefferson added 17 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, and two blocks for the Tropang Giga, who won their first game since Jayson Castro was ruled out of the season due to a ruptured patellar tendon in his right knee.
Keith Datu and Anton Asistio were the top local scorers for the Elasto Painters after chipping in eight apiece. Their team played catch-up most of the game, and trailed by as many as 11 points, 62-51, in the third period.
Nocum shot only 1 of 7 from the field, a far cry from his Game 3 effort where he scored 16 points. He also had four turnovers including a costly one with two and a half minutes to play when he dished out an ill-advised pass to no one instead of taking a driving lay-up.
The scores:
TNT 93 – Oftana 26, Pogoy 22, Hollis-Jefferson 17, Nambatac 12, Aurin 9, Erram 4, Williams 3, Khobuntin 0, Razon 0, Heruela 0.
Rain or Shine 85 – Thompson 44, Asistio 8, Datu 8, Caracut 6, Tiongson 6, Clarito 5, Mamuyac 4, Nocum 4, Norwood 0, Santillan 0.
Quarters: 26-21; 53-43; 73-67; 93-85.
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