CHICAGO - Doomed by an 0-3 start and cursed by the toxic saga involving its disgruntled former star player, TNT's ambitious grand slam bid was supposed to be dead on arrival in the playoffs,
But on Wednesday night at the PhilSports Arena, a defiant Tropang 5G scratched and clawed before ultimately surviving elimination with a narrow 89-88 victory over the twice-to-beat Magnolia Hotshots.
Stunning Magnolia by erasing a 13-point third-quarter deficit was shocking but not surprising.
READ Pogoy not about to let TNT go on vacation yet
The Tropang 5G have been to this dance so many times before, with different partners but with the same degree of difficulty. So when things got tough, their experience and championship pedigree calmed the angry seas.
Roger Pogoy acknowledged the toughness of the Magnolia defense, but he burned them anyway with a 30-piece highlighted by three 3s. Oftentimes, especially in the clutch, the Cebuano star was more open than a suggestion box.
"Ball movement was the key and credit goes to my teammates sa ila mga pass," Pogoy told me via text message.
ONE DOWN. ONE TO GO.
But the job is far from done, which explains why the team's post-game mood was relief, not celebratory.
Beating Magnolia twice in four days may not be a task that is biblical in proportions, but it is extremely exhausting, like running two marathons in the same week.
"We expect Magnolia to make adjustments but hindi kami mag pa outwork," Pogoy said of the team mentality heading to the do-or-die battle.
Soldiering through a bad left ankle, Calvin Oftana earned a medal of merit on Wednesday with a gritty performance where he scored 21 and grabbed 16 rebounds in 36:41 of playing time.
But among the heroes at TNT, coach Chot Reyes deserves the game ball. I don't think he outcoached Magnolia's Chito Victolero, what I'll say is Reyes showed why he has 11 PBA titles under his belt.
SURPRISE, SURPRISE.
Reyes pulled Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser from the X files of the forgotten but not forsaken, unleashing the big man who responded with 10 points and six boards while helping fortify a defense that held Magnolia to 14 points below their average.
Reyes leaned on veteran Kelly Williams yet again, and the 43-year old veteran rewarded his coach's trust with seven rebounds and 12 points that included the game-clinching free throw.
Riding his two best horses - Pogoy and Oftana - was a gimme. The challenge was getting them open looks, which was accomplished as shown by Pogoy and Oftana's combined 53.8 percent field goal shooting (21-of-39).
Although he had a flare-up with the refs that elicited a technical foul and a mini-summit on the court prior to the halftime break, Reyes was in control for the most part.
In fact, when Williams swished the free throw for the go-ahead point in the waning seconds of the tense contest, Chot had the expressionless face of an Amazon delivery guy who just dumped a package on your front door.
That serenity in the midst of the chaos which enveloped the last two minutes epitomized TNT's poise under pressure.
More of that grace under fire mojo will be required for TNT's triple crown dream to keep on burning.
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