Had it not been for Nards Pinto, Ginebra may have fallen in too deep of a hole – and, worse, never crawl out.
That’s the kind of impact the gunslinging guard has brought. ANd he has helped the Barangay seize Game Two of their PBA Governors’ Cup semifinal series against NLEX on Friday, according to no less than his head coach Tim Cone.
“I think Nards Pinto was key in the game,” the 23-time champion mentor offered after their 104-94 victory at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
The 31-year-old submitted his best performance in a Gin Kings uniform with 10 points, all of which he made in the second quarter alone. He powered his side’s turnaround after trailing by 11 twice in the said period.
He scored the first 10 points of a 23-10 spree. That turned a 26-37 deficit to a 49-47 advantage – their first lead of the game since a 6-4 count early.
The Barangay would sit in the driver’s seat the rest of the way. They even led by as high as 18 twice in the third quarter.
“We were falling behind and he kept us in the game with tremendous play in the second quarter. Gave us a chance to play hard in that third quarter and get ahead,” said Cone of Pinto, whom they picked up via free agency last month.
“If we haven’t done that, we might have fallen too far behind and never got back in the game. So hats off to Nard – he came off the bench and did a great job.”
Cone also felt relieved that Pinto suffered nothing serious. The seven-year vet hurt his right knee after opposing guard Mike Nieto accidentally landed on it, but was able to return to the match after just a short while on the bench.
“He was able to come back in the game, which was good. But the first thing I thought was, ‘Oh no, not another one,'” he said, as Ginebra has already been dealing with the absence of Japeth Aguilar due to calf issues.
“But hopefully, it’s not too bad. We’d get some rehab on it and be able to go on it someday,” he added.
—
All PBA games stream live on GigaPlay. Download it now on Android or IOS.
The second game of each playdate is also livestreamed on SMART Sports.
