What was widely expected to be a grind-out affair turned out otherwise as TNT blew out Magnolia in the 2021 Honda PBA Philippine Cup Finals opener, Friday.
The Tropang Giga came out firing as the Hotshots appeared shell-shocked until the end. This was quite uncharacteristic for a team that has long established itself as one of the grittiest, hard-nosed crews in the league.
Coach Chot Reyes, though, didn’t feel at all surprised with what they witnessed from the opposition, saying that it really happens.
“These things happen. We know this, of all people,” the decorated mentor said moments after their 88-70 win at the DHVSU Gym in Bacolor.
Definitely, the Tropa knows how it feels like being on the other end of a blowout. They went through that in the semis versus San Miguel Beer.
After close affairs in the series’ first two matches, the following games saw both teams alternately beat each other with double-digit margins.
Their clash went all the way to a Game Seven and the result was the same, although it was in favor of TNT. It earned the 97-79 decision to book its Big Dance ticket.
“We’ve been on the receiving end of this as well in our previous [series] against San Miguel. These things really happen,” said Reyes.
The trend seemingly spilled all the way to the Finals, with the flagship MVP Group franchise routing the Hotshots in Game One. They even led by as many as 32 points, 73-41, late in the third quarter.
“Magnolia really comes out and plays with a lot of effort, so we focused our attention on making sure that we’re able to match their energy and their effort. And I thought we were able to do that,” offered Reyes.
Though the Tropang Giga impressed, the eight-time champion coach said that they haven’t done anything but take Game One.
“It’s still 1-0. So for us, all we’ve done is get the first game. We have to now focus our energy to prepare for Game Two,” he said.
Reyes and Co. are now gearing up for possible counters the Hotshots would deploy in an attempt to bounce back in Game Two on Friday evening, with the lessons of their clash with the Beermen in mind.
“We’re sure that they’re going to come back with counter-adjustments in Game Two, so we just need to be ready,” he said.
“And you saw what happened in the last series, right? We’d win big one game, we’d lose big the next game, we’d win. So we just have to be prepared. We have to be ready for whatever Magnolia has in store for us in Game Two.”
