Jordan Heading ticked an item off his list as he finally set foot in the PBA semifinals in TNT’s eventual win over Rain or Shine on Wednesday.
The Tropang 5G’s 98-91 victory marked his debut in the said stage, and serving as an icing on the cake was his first experience playing at the Mall of Asia Arena — something he wasn’t able to feel when he was still part of Gilas.
“It feels good!” the Fil-Australian combo guard told reporters moments after Game 1 of their Season 49 Philippine Cup best-of-seven semis battle.
“You know, it’s actually my first time playing at MoA. Unbelievable venue. It was a super fun game. I’m excited for this series to keep going,” he added.
Heading was solid in the series opener. Fielded as a starter, he went on to finish with 11 points behind a perfect 5-for-5 clip from the free throw line and also collected three rebounds and an assist — all without a turnover.
Still, he remains under a minutes restriction due to a nagging back spasm, which got aggravated during their quarters duel versus the twice-to-beat Magnolia.
“I hit the ground a few times, but I think at the very end of the game against Magnolia, on that contact with the ground, it kinda spasmed up again,” he said, referring to the first KO game against the Hotshots exactly a week ago.
It’s truly been challenging for Heading to play through the injury, but he and the coaches have been working to get rid of it sooner.
“We’re literally throwing everything at it — chiropractors, physio, everything we could think of,” he said. “It’s going to a pretty good spot, and every waking moment, I’m doing whatever I can do to make the spasm go down.”
And Heading has no plans of missing any game in the semis, since the well-travelled rookie wants to live in the moment the best he can.
“My back definitely felt better than it did last game against Magnolia. Still, they’re trying to limit my minutes, and just kinda let that back kinda get back to normal, so hopefully, that happens pretty quickly,” he said.
Not because he has some axe to grind against the team that sent him to an early vacation in the last Commissioner’s Cup when he was still with Converge, though.
“No, I’m just trying to get to the Finals with these guys,” said Heading with a smile. “I’m not thinking about anything else.”
#WATCH: Jordan Heading opens up about his nagging back injury and how he’s powering through the pain to stay on the court 🏀
🎥 @justinebacnis /Tiebreaker Times#PBA2025 pic.twitter.com/RMQr87Qkb0
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) June 25, 2025
