Mikey Williams simply didn’t want to be ‘gunshy’ again in TNT’s crucial Game 3 tiff against Meralco in the PBA Governors’ Cup semis Wednesday night.
Thus, the big outing he turned in, equalling his conference-high 29 points on half a dozen three-pointers to back up Rondae Hollis-Jefferson in powering the Tropang Giga’s 99-80 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-5 series.
“I definitely wanted to be more assertive in the third and the fourth,” he said moments after the blowout at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
Williams actually finished with 29 points as well back in Game 3 last Sunday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo, but said himself that he wasn’t consistently assertive, most especially at a time when they could’ve closed the match.
After firing 17 points in the third quarter alone, the league’s reigning scoring champion went scoreless in the fourth and, worse, in overtime
TNT would lose, 124-117, indeed a stinging loss since it already led by a point, 109-108, with under two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.
“I know last game I was assertive in the third, and I went gunshy in the fourth,” said Williams as his side came back from 12 down in that game but fell short no thanks to the steely resolve of Bolts stars Cliff Hodge and Aaron Black.
But he put all that behind following a solid Game 3, where he scored 11 in the final period to help the Tropa secure the victory — and get themselves a win away from setting up a Finals date with defending champs Ginebra.
“We stayed locked in for 48,” offered Williams. “We almost had a couple of mental lapses in the fourth, but we found a way to push through.”
Now it will be back to work for Game 4 on Friday where TNT could finish it off, although Williams and Co. know that it won’t be any easier.
“Them being aggressive,” he said when asked about their foes’ retaliation in the next game. “In Game 2, every time we scored, they pushed it right back down in transition. That’s where they scored most of their points last game.
“I think we just got to be ready.”
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The second game of each PBA gameday is live-streamed on SMART Sports.
