Nards Pinto made sure to be of help in his first playoff trip with the Barangay as Ginebra met TNT in the PBA Governors’ Cup quarterfinals.
The 31-year-old was one of the reasons why the Gin Kings’ faithful popped wildy during the fourth quarter, knocking down a pair of big corner threes to keep the Tropang Giga at bay after tying the game at 73-all from being down 19.
His last trey gave the reigning champs a 79-75 lead with 9:15 left, and the troika of Justin Brownlee, Scottie Thompson, and Japeth Aguilar took it from there to bring them the 102-94 victory to prevent an early exit from the season.
Pinto finished with six points, a rebound, and an assist. And no less than head coach Tim Cone tipped his hat to the floor general’s contributions.
Photo by PBA Images
“Yeah, he was huge,” said the league’s only 23-time champion mentor. “He had a couple of really big threes from the corner when they were making their run and started to tie the ballgame up. He came out, hit some big threes.”
PInto, however, said that he simply took advantage of the openings he was given, although those shots at the same time proved to be his redemption of sorts for himself for missing lay-ups during the first half.
“Sobrang frustrated ako nung first half. Kasi ‘yung open lay-ups ko … sobrang frustrating. So sabi ko nung halftime, mindset ko was, ano lang ako, dedepensa kasi yun naman talaga yung focus ko dito ngayong match.
“Tsaka, ‘yun naman talaga yung trabaho ko rito e, mag-set up ng plays, hustle. Siguro na-timingan lang na open ako,” said the Arellano product. “Tsaka pinapraktis naman natin ‘yan araw-araw, so ayun. Nagamit natin.”
But it wasn’t just on offense where Pinto proved his worth. Willingly, he also took on the challenge of being one of Mikey Williams’ defenders.
The BPC contender finished with 19 points, but the seven-year pro definitely helped out in making it a long night for him. Williams shot 6-of-18 from the field, including a 4-of-10 clip from three-point distance.
“He helped on defending Williams as well,” said Cone, who also threw Thompson in front of the Rookie-MVP frontrunner.
Still, Pinto has nothing but respect towards Williams, and he hopes that the rest of Ginebra will be able to at least limit him on Saturday.
“Si Mikey naman kasi, siya ang para sa akin pinaka-mahirap bantayan e. Hirap na match-up e,” he said. “Wala na tayong magagawa diyan.
“Ang gusto lang namin, i-limit siya — tingnan mo, naka-focus na kami sa kanya, ilang points pa rin siya. Gawin lang namin lahat, na ma-limit yung touches niya tsaka magawa lang namin ‘yung gameplan namin para sa kanya.”
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