2 weeks ago
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February 27, 2025 | 2:45pm
TNT head coach Chot Reyes
(PBA Images)
MANILA, Philippines — With Rondae Hollis-Jefferson struggling the whole game, the TNT relied on defense to pull off an 88-84 win over Rain or Shine Elasto in Game 1 of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup semis series Wednesday.
In the game, Hollis-Jefferson played all 48 minutes and finished with 23 points. But he shot 8-of-27 from the field and missed all seven 3-pointers.
The TNT import added 13 rebounds, five assists, four blocks and a steal but had four turnovers.
With the misfiring Hollis-Jefferson experiencing the brunt of the Elasto Painters’ defense, TNT banked on their own defensive schemes to grab the close victory.
The Tropang Giga did not allow the Elasto Painters to score in the final two minutes of the game, making crucial stops down the stretch.
TNT head coach Chot Reyes said that they were “fortunate that our defense carried us through”.
“Our entire mindset was to make sure that our defense is on point because this is a top-scoring team in the quarterfinals. Rain or Shine was averaging 115 coming into this ballgame,” he told reporters.
“So, we really needed to recover that with our defense. And I think that’s what happened in this ballgame. We won this not on our offense, but with our defense,” he added.
With Hollis-Jefferson shooting less than 30% from the field, Jayson Castro and Calvin Oftana combined for 46 points. The former finished 24 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while the latter scored 22 points in 31 minutes. Both players connected on six 3-pointers off the bench.
Castro, for his part, said that while Hollis-Jefferson struggling, he is still the
team’s anchor.
“To be honest, yung nagpanalo talaga sa amin dito this game, is yung defense talaga. Even si RHJ, yung average scoring niya hindi [inaabot,] pero on defense, siya talaga ang pinaka-anchor namin, siya ang nagdidikta sa amin,” the guard stressed.
“So, give credit to RHJ pa rin, kahit off night siya, pero yung defense niya talaga andoon,” he added.
And despite going up 1-0, Reyes said that they are not expecting things to be easier through the race-to-four series.
“Yeah, it's going to be a grind the whole way through. We have no illusions of that this will be easy by any means,” the coach underscored.
“They're a very well-balanced, well-constructed, well-coached team. They're very versatile. They have a great import with them. So we really have to be at our best. We were fortunate tonight that our defense carried us through. But there's a lot for us to improve going into Game 2.”
Game 2 is on Friday, 7:30 p.m., at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig City.
