ANTIPOLO - TNT proved on Wednesday that it can go toe-to-toe against a vaunted San Miguel squad by winning the opener of the PBA 50th Season Philippine Cup Finals, 96-91, at the Ynares Center.
The Tropang 5G flaunted their depth after drawing strong showings from usual suspects Kelly Williams and Calvin Oftana down to bench players Simon Enciso and Henry Galinato against the defending champion Beermen's defense.
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TNT also limited SMB to one of its lowest scoring outputs in the first half this conference before surviving a late Beermen rally.
The best-of-seven championship series return here for Game 2 on Friday night with TNT looking for a 2-0 advantage.
Williams had seven of his 15 points in the first quarter while also grabbing nine rebounds. He also hit a three for TNT’s biggest lead of the game at 46-27.
Oftana also had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Tropang 5G. He also scored back-to-back baskets to start an 8-0 run that pushed their lead to 86-77 with five minutes to play in the fourth.
It was actually a wire-to-wire victory for TNT with Enciso, a surprise starter to Game 1, making eight of his 10 points in the first quarter that had the Tropang 5G ahead, 29-20.
Galinato had 12 points while battling against SMB’s bigs June Mar Fajardo and Mo Tautuaa to help TNT gain the edge in bench points, 48-27.
Still, the Tropang 5G find themselves down by one after the Beermen forced a late turnover with Jericho Cruz making a lay-up, 92-91. But Heading made four of his 13 points on free throws to weather the storm.
TNT coach Chot Reyes, however, said they can’t win that way for the rest of the series if they intend to win the championship.
“In the huddle, I said we defend well, they are not scoring on the halfcourt set, they are just scoring off our turnovers,” said Reyes. “We said every time we make a defensive stop, we have to make sure that we get our shot. Whether we make it or miss it as long as we don’t turn it over. And that’s the story. We gave 25 turnover points to San Miguel.”
Fajardo had 24 points and 17 rebounds, Tautuaa had 22 points, and Cjay Perez added 16 points but had little support from the bench.
The scores:
TNT 96 – Williams 15, Oftana 13, Heading 13, Galinato 12, Nambatac 11, Enciso 10, Ganuelas-Rosser 8, Erram 6, Khobuntin 4, Ferrer 2, Aurin 2.
San Miguel 91 – Fajardo 24, Tautuaa 22, Perez 16, Brondial 10, Cruz 8, Tiongson 5, Trollano 4, Ross 2, Rosales 0, Teng 0, Lassiter 0, Cahilig 0.
Quarters: 29-20; 53-36; 70-64; 96-91.
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