Rondae Hollis-Jefferson proved to be the difference yet again as TNT sneaked past Rain or Shine, 81-79, to move a win away from returning to the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals, Wednesday evening at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
The conference’s reigning Best Import did it all, finishing with 23 points, 19 rebounds, five assists, five steals, and five blocks as he took over in the endgame to save the Tropang Giga from a 79-all tie with 45.7 seconds to play.
He first threw down the tie-breaking one-handed jam after bullying the defense of counterpart Aaron Fuller, and then swatted away Jhonard Clarito’s attempt for a go-ahead bucket on the other end of the floor with 18.5 ticks remaining.
Luck slowly drifted away from the Elasto Painters since then, as the crew could no longer find the bottom of the net in the closing seconds for a counter.
The Tropang Giga eventually chalked up the crucial victory, putting the defending champions in a position to finish the best-of-7 series in Game 5 on Friday at the Ynares Center in Antipolo. Game time is at 7:30 p.m.
