Guarding one of the PBA’s best scorers is definitely no easy task. But Nards Pinto welcomed the challenge and, ultimately, earned praises for it.
The 5-foot-11 playmaker was assigned to defend Paul Lee in Game Three of the 2021 Honda Philippine Cup semifinals between Meralco and Magnolia Friday, and head coach Norman Black was satisfied with how he delivered.
Coming off a 28-point performance in the previous game a couple of days ago that saw him steer the Hotshots to a 92-78 victory, the former BPC was held to just 18 points on 2-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
With him a bit far from his usual ways along with the usual providers, the Bolts bagged the 91-86 win to breakthrough in the series.
“We gave him a tough task tonight. He had to guard Paul Lee for the majority of the game,” said the decorated mentor moments after the match at the Don Honorio Ventura State University Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga.
Pinto not only made a mark on defense, though. He was also one of Meralco’s top scorers with 16 points on a 5-of-8 clip from the floor.
Photo by PBA Images
“In addition to that, he was able to score points,” lauded Black of his ward, who equaled his conference-high in points for the third time.
The Arellano University product also collected five rebounds, two assists, and a block in 30 minutes and 13 seconds as a starter — a kind of performance badly needed by a team missing a total of four players.
“The guy next to me really deserves a lot of credit,” expressed Black as he graced the post-game presser together with Pinto, who was bestowed with Best Player of the Game honors.
“So, hats off to Nards Pinto.”
Pinto, for his part, said that he and the Bolts simply didn’t want to fall to a 0-3 hole in the race-to-four battle — thus his outing.
“We’re down two games. Sabi lang ni Coach, kailangan lang namin mag-regroup tsaka kailangan namin, parang buwis-buhay ‘yung game namin ngayon kasi mahirap na ‘pag na-0-3 kami,” said the 30-year-old.
“Nag-regroup kami tas ‘yung sa defense, inayos namin,” he added.
“So ayun, maganda naman yung kinalabasan.”
