Rondae Hollis-Jefferson came back strong as TNT cruised to an easy 142-87 victory over the luckless Macau for its third successive win in the PBA Season 50 Governors’ Cup, Tuesday at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
In action for the first time in 10 months, the three-time Best Import showed his recovery from an Achilles tear. He posted 22 points on 10-of-22 shooting, six rebounds, five assists, and two steals without a single turnover.
‘RHJ’ was part of the five that broke the game wide open in the second canto, leading to the 55-point triumph which hiked their record to 7-4 to stay at the third spot behind NLEX (8-2) and San Miguel Beer (7-3) in Group A.
(C) PBA Images
“Ever since naman, ang plan was to bring him in before the playoffs,” Coach Chot Reyes said. “We found an opportunity to ease him in slowly.”
Excited by the return of Hollis-Jefferson, six more players finished in double figures in the win, with Calvin Oftana chipping in 28 points.
Another returning key cog, Poy Erram, delivered nicely as well with 15 points and eight rebounds to lead the bench. Jordan Heading and Henry Galinato supplied 11 points apiece, with Kim Aurin chipping in 10 markers.
Jio Jalalon notched a triple-double of 11 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists in a vintage outing from the former Defensive Player of the Year.
Still with a chance for the No. 2 spot, TNT will try to end its group phase with another W against Converge this Sunday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
“We know ang next na kalaban namin is Converge. Ayaw naman naming ilaro si Rondae at si Poy agad-agad nang ganu’n kalakas na kalaban, that’s why we decided to ease them in today,” offered Reyes as they faced an also-ran team.
(C) PBA Images
Oscar Lopez finished with 43 points and 10 rebounds against eight turnovers to lead the guest team, which lost its last three games by an average of 43.6 points, including a record 60-point humiliation from the Road Warriors.
The Giant Pandas (2-9) will play their final PBA game this coming Friday against the streaking FiberXers as well at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
The Scores:
TNT 142 – Oftana 28, Hollis-Jefferson 22, Erram 15, Jalalon 11, Heading 11, Galinato 11, Aurin 10, Enciso 9, Nambatac 8, Ambohot 6, Pogoy 6, Varilla 5, Quitevis 0, Celzo 0, Castro 0.
Macau 87 – Lopez 43, Lao 14, Lam 13, Liu 4, Sun 4, Chen 3, Chao 2, Lu 2, Zhu 2, Zhang 0.
Quarterscores: 28-21; 64-40; 102-58; 142-87.
