ANTIPOLO – Jordan Heading took the spotlight this time around as the locals continued their solid play for TNT in the opening salvo of their series with Meralco in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup semifinals Wednesday night.
The lefty combo guard submitted 16 points in nearly 26 minutes off the bench for easily one of his better games in a while. Heading had difficulty finding the mark this conference, though he made up for it in other ways.
“He’s been struggling with his shot, and his offense the whole conference, but we’ve been very happy with the way he’s been playing defense,” said head coach Chot Reyes after their 94-89 Game 1 victory at the Ynares Center here.
Heading proved himself as a reliable two-way player even before making the jump to the PBA, but his bread-and-butter has always been his scoring.
That was on full display most especially in the fourth quarter, where he scored six in a 9-2 run toward a 90-79 lead with three minutes remaining.
“That’s when winning counts, right? That’s when you win ball games — at the end of the game, in the last two to three minutes,” said the former Gilas stalwart, who shot 6-of-9 from the field and also had two rebounds plus a steal.
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Still, it was Bol Bol who came through with the most important bucket of the night: a scoop shot for the eventual final count with 46.3 seconds to spare that effectively repelled the Bolts’ rally behind Marvin Jones and Bong Quinto.
“All five of us are making really big-time plays and just doing what we need to do, and go to Bol down the stretch, and he’s gonna deliver,” Heading said.
The 7-foot-3 wing finished with 37 points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists. And while he took them home, there should be no denying how crucial the locals were — especially Heading, as he gave them a new go-to option.
“They did a great job defending Calvin, and we all know how good a defender Chris Newsome is. So they put him on Calvin, later in the game they put Cliff Hodge on Calvin,” offered Reyes as Calvin Oftana only had a quiet 14.
“So, it was important that we have another guy stepping up, and normally that’s either Rey or Jayson, or the guy beside me, Jordan. When we get that other scorer aside from Roger and Calvin, it really helps our offense. It really helps the flow of our game. And I think when we’re scoring well, it also energizes our defense,” continued the champion bench tactician.
“When his offense is clicking as well, that’s a big plus for us.”
