What could have been an opportunity to move closer to clinching a playoff berth became a missed chance.
On Saturday night, TNT Katropa looked to stretch their win streak to three games as they faced bottom-dwellers NLEX Road Warriors in Pampanga. But little did they know that they were up for a surprise.
As the final buzzer sounded, the KaTropa found themselves in the losing end of a 12-point, 110-98 defeat at the hands of NLEX — a team coming off a five-game losing skid.
The loss proved costly for TNT, bringing their record down to 4-3 and dragging them down in the standings — moving from second to third place along with Phoenix Fuel Masters.
The stunning upset also snapped the Katropa’s two-game winning streak, with their victories coming against Phoenix and the Alaska Aces.
And for TNT head coach Nash Racela, the bitter loss Saturday night stemmed from their unforced miscues and numerous fouls committed.
“We had a lot of turnovers,” lamented Ravela, pointing out the 23 turnovers TNT had committed, a huge disparity from the 15 errors NLEX had.
Jayson Castro committed seven of TNT’s 23 turnovers
Regarding free throws, TNT gave NLEX many opportunities, allowing the latter to shoot 50 foul shots. But luckily for the Katropa, the Road Warriors converted just 28 of their 50 charities.
The huge amount of shots from the line was all because of the unnecessary fouls TNT gave up all throughout the match, prompting the refs to blow the whistle against them 34 times overall.
“That’s something, I think, we need to study. Learn how to avoid committing fouls,” Racela stressed.
A win over NLEX could have helped them get closer to securing a playoff spot. But with the result not in their favor, TNT’s booking for a playoff ticket will have to wait a few more games.
However, Racela does not want to put his mind to the playoff race for now.
“Right now, we’re still not thinking about that. Focus namin is game to game.”
But despite the stinging defeat, the 45-year-old tactician claimed that such kind of a loss is all part of TNT’s growth and development process, as it will only be of help for the team.
“Again, we want to change a lot of things. But you can’t really change that overnight. It takes time.
“Ang importante is we identify things one by one. I think that’s how we will progress,” said Racela.
