Calvin Oftana showed that the past no longer matters to him after powering TNT to a series-tying victory over Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup best-of-7 Finals on Friday night.
Hardly affected by what they believed was a non-call in the final possession of their eventual loss back in Game 1 two nights ago, the star winger fired a season-high 31 points and 10 rebounds to help the Tropang 5G get on board.
“‘Yung mga ganung bagay, move forward na lang yan eh,” he said after their 101-94 win witnessed by 11,510 fans at the SMART Araneta Coliseum. “Mga lesson lang namin doon, yung first half naman. Doon kami natalo.
“And siyempre motivated naman lahat — from the coaches, to the staff, to the management — na manalo para ma-tie namin ‘yung series.”
Oftana was assertive right from the start. He already had 20 points to his name, barely two minutes into the third quarter, after knocking down one of his five triples in the match, which also pushed their lead to 53-36.
The going then got tough, as the Kings displayed their trademark NSD spirit that saw them chop what was once a 21-point gap to just four, 98-94, with barely a minute left to play. But the former NCAA MVP helped save the day.
(C) PBA Images
Making Ginebra rookie John Abis pay for a costly miss and a foul against him, the San Beda product calmly made both of his free throws to push their lead back to two possessions, 100-94, with only 18.7 seconds remaining.
Chris McCullough would go on to settle the final count, allowing TNT not just to get away with the narrow win, but also to preserve Oftana’s efforts.
All in all, the Gilas Pilipinas mainstay shot 11-of-18 from the field, including a 50-percent mark from three. He also went a perfect 4-for-4 from the charity stripe on the way to tallying a PBA career-high against the Kings franchise.
He was all smiles shortly after learning of his personal achievement, but did not take all the credit to himself. Instead, he thanked all of the Tropang 5G, especially for trusting him enough to take the lead on offense.
“I think maganda lang ‘yung tulog ngayon,” Oftana quipped. “And I think ‘yung kumpiyansa naman sa sarili na ‘yun, hindi naman mabibigay ng mga kasama ko ‘yun, ng mga coaches ko. Ang tiwala lang nila ‘yung kailangan ko.
“And ‘yung tiwala na ‘yun, ayun ‘yung nagpapabuhos sa akin na maglaro pa. I played for 40 minutes again, so pahinga lang and move forward na ulit sa Game 3. Happy lang ako,” added the 30-year-old from Dumaguete City.
“‘Di naman kailangan talagang umiskor ng marami kung mananalo naman kayo, e. Pero right now talaga, maganda lang talaga ‘yung tulog and maganda ‘yung pasa ng mga kasama ko.”
