It poured like rain

TNT stormed out of the starting gates like a horse on a blazing saddle in Game 1 against Barangay Ginebra in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals at the SM Mall of Asia Arena last Friday. Coach Chot Reyes’ troops knocked down eight triples in the first quarter, accounting for 24 of 29 points as they made Ginebra pay the price of allowing the outside shots to focus on congesting the interior. The triples poured like rain. In the second quarter, TNT hit only one trey but shifted their point of attack to the paint as Ginebra tightened its defense in the perimeter.TNT outscored Ginebra in the shaded area, 16-8, to reflect the adjustment. At the half, TNT led, 55-39.

More than its offense, TNT was impressive in holding Ginebra down to 39 at the turn. Reyes deployed a platoon of defenders on Justin Brownlee with the idea of turning him from a take-charge guy to a role player. RR Pogoy, Glenn Khobuntin and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson took turns shadowing JB who took only eight shots and never went to the line in the first half.

Early in the third quarter, Ginebra unloaded an 8-0 salvo to cut the lead to 10 then narrowed it later to eight but couldn’t sustain the momentum as TNT kept the Barangay at bay with four triples. In the fourth frame, Ginebra made a last-ditch stand as Brownlee took over, collecting nine points, six rebounds and two assists but it was too late the hero. The deficit went down to four with five seconds left then RHJ canned two free throws to close out the scoring, 95-89.

TNT’s defense made the difference. Before Game 1, Ginebra averaged 105.9 points in 14 wins and TNT held opponents to 90.2 in 13 wins. Ginebra was No. 1 in assists with 25.5 a game and No. 2 in three-point percentage at .371.TNT untangled coach Tim Cone’s triangle, limited Ginebra to 17 assists and dropped its three-point shooting to .250. Ginebra could only score 89 so TNT’s recipe of holding the Barangay to 90 or less points and 20 or less assists worked like a charm. Ginebra’s vaunted bench couldn’t get untracked as TNT’s relievers dominated, 28-18, despite Jayson Castro’s absence.

In Game 2 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena tonight, TNT will try to go 2-0 while Ginebra attempts to even it up. Cone can’t afford another slow start and Ginebra has to be more aggressive on defense to stymie TNT’s kick-outs, close out hard on shooters and prevent layups on penetrations. Defense won it for TNT in Game 1 and if Ginebra hopes to tie it up, defense will be Cone’s key, too.