Another team is making a strong case for a top-two finish.
The TNT Katropa had to survive a late-game attack by the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters to reign triumphant, 105-102, and keep alive their hopes of finishing in the top two for the 2017 Commissioner’s Cup playoffs, Sunday night at the Ynares Center.
“Ine-expect ko naman, especially since Rain or Shine needs the win today for them to have a really good placing in the quarterfinals,” said TNT head coach Nash Racela in the gritty win, which closes their elimination round run with an 8-3 card, good for fourth. “But I think we’ve been in the PBA for so long na at this point, we already know that no lead is safe in the PBA.”
Import Joshua Smith, now in his second game, paced TNT with 23 points on 56 percent shooting to go with 12 rebounds. Ranidel De Ocampo gave ample support with 21 markers spiked by four treys alongside six caroms and two dimes.
Down by a dozen, 83-71, early in the final chapter, the Elasto Painters made a spirited comeback to threaten the Katropa to flip the deficit in their favor, 98-97, after a Jeff Chan stepback trey with 2:02 to go.
TNT responded at the other end, however, as wide-bodied reinforcement Smith imposed his presence inside the paint. His back-to-back lay-ups gave the Katropa more breathing room, 101-98, still with 1:12 remaining.
Yap then unleashed his Big Game mode down the stretch for the E-Painters, as he converted a three-point play to get things even at 101. He had a chance to widen the gap further, but he muffed his charities with 51.5 ticks left.
Rain or Shine had another chance to set the game in their favor after almost stealing a kickout pass from Castro, but the ball went loose. Luckily, Roger Pogoy caught the ball, pulled up from afar, and his shot went in, 103-101, with 26.8 to go.
Yap was fouled by Ryan Reyes at the other end, thus another chance to tie. But he split his charities, leaving the door for TNT to nail the final blows. De Ocampo’s freebies with 3.6 seconds to go proved to be the closer.
“No lead is safe in the PBA, so importante is for every team to continuously play hard. There should be consistency. That’s something that we’re learning,” added Racela regarding the tight affair.
Troy Rosario supplied 11 points and eight rebounds for TNT. Ryan Reyes had a double-double of 10 markers and 10 boards, while Pogoy finished with also 10.
The Elasto Painters, who are still going into the playoffs despite the loss, were led by Yap with 23 points on 18 shots. His output, moreover, sent him to being just 27 points away from reaching 10,000 career points.
Duke Crews only finished with nine points but had 17 boards for RoS. The American could have scored more, but he was thrown out of the game after incurring a technical foul midway into the third canto.
Crews also incurred a flagrant foul penalty one in the first quarter after an elbow to the face of TNT’s Anthony Semerad.
Both teams shot 42 percent from the floor, and the Katropa narrowly edge their counterparts in rebounds, 58-55. However, Rain or Shine’s bench played more notably as they provided 57 points to their team’s total output.
RoS, who are currently at sixth place with a 4-7 slate, will more likely play in a best-of-three series in the quarterfinals. But should Alaska win versus Star on Wednesday, it could their good positioning in peril, and they might find themselves at a twice-to-beat disadvantage.
The Scores:
TNT (105) – Smith 23, De Ocampo 21, Rosario 11, Reyes 10, Pogoy 10, Tautuaa 9, Garcia 9, Rosales 5, Castro 3, Williams 3, Semerad 1, Carey 0.
RAIN OR SHINE (102) – Yap 23, Chan 18, Belga 13, Cruz 9, Crews 9, Ponferada 6, Trollano 6, Almazan 6, Washington 5, Tolomia 4, Ahanmisi 3, Norwood 0, Robles 0.
Quarterscores: 22-16, 51-39, 78-71, 105-102.
