Mikey Williams showed what NLEX missed out on as he powered TNT to a 100-85 rout for their bounce-back victory in the 2021 Honda PBA Philippine Cup, Friday at the Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
Supposed to be the Road Warriors’ other first-round selection in last March’s Rookie Draft had they not traded the no. 4 pick to the Tropang Giga, the Fil-Am guard sizzled with 36 points on 65-percent shooting from the field.
Eight of his points came in the third canto, sparking a 20-5 blitz that turned a 59-all deadlock to a 79-64 that overwhelmed their foes.
Williams also collected four rebounds, three assists, and two steals in over 38 minutes of play as TNT bounced back from its loss to San Miguel to go 7-1.
“We took advantage of everything that we work on every day on offense,” said the 29-year-old. “The drive-and-kicks, backdoors, ball movement. Today my teammates really found a way to get me some holes to get through it.”
Roger Pogoy and Kib Montalbo finished with 13 points apiece, while Kelly Williams and Poy Erram chimed in 10 markers each as the Texters handed NLEX another loss after that 2OT heartbreaker versus Magnolia.
“We knew they came from a double-overtime game and we thought if we could stay with them eventually our pace would wear them down. And I think that’s what happened,” offered head coach Chot Reyes.
TNT received inspired contributions from Montalbo and Erram. The second-year guard was made part of the starting five as a reward for his fine play versus the Beermen, where he also finished with 13 markers.
“He played an excellent ball game and I felt that he deserved to start. But the more important thing was we felt he was a good matchup for Kevin [Alas] as well,” said Reyes of the two-way specialist from La Salle.
Erram, meanwhile, had an added push as his wife gave birth to a baby boy the night before their match versus the Road Warriors.
“Really huge sacrifice for Poy to be here,” said the decorated bench tactician. “That was mighty big of Poy to be focused on this game and get the job done in spite of everything happening outside of the bubble.”
Meanwhile, Kevin Alas led the Road Warriors with 16 points in the disappointing defeat, which dropped their record to 4-4.
Michael Miranda and Don Trollano had identical numbers of 14 points and seven rebounds, as Calvin Oftana added 11 in the loss that saw NLEX fall to a hole as deep as 24, 100-76, with less than two minutes left to play.
TNT and NLEX will return to play on Sunday, September 12. The Tropang Giga is set to collide with Ginebra in a rematch of last year’s Finals at 4:35 p,m., followed by the Road Warriors’ duel with NorthPort at 7:00 p,m.
The Scores:
TNT 100 – M. Williams 36, Montalbo 13, Pogoy 13, K. Williams 10, Erram 10, Rosario 7, Reyes 4, Heruela 4, Marcelo 3, Castro 0, Alejandro 0, Javier 0, Mendoza 0.
NLEX 85 – Alas 16, Miranda 14, Trollano 14, Oftana 11, Quinahan 9, Cruz 8, Semerad 5, Porter 5, Paniamogan 3, Soyud 0.
Quarterscores: 23-26, 47-49, 80-68, 100-85.
