TnT up 3-0, tells RoS: Game over

MANILA, Philippines - Talk n Text rained down three-pointers on Rain or Shine to highlight its furious comeback from nine points down early in the fourth quarter,  and carved out a sensational 89-80 win to take a huge three-game-to-nil lead in the PBA Governors Cup best-of-seven finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.

Ranidel de Ocampo, Jimmy Alapag and Jason Castro combined for four treys in a 16-4 closing run that carried the Texters to the great come-from-behind win and into the threshold of an all-Filipino three-peat.

The Texters go for a series sweep Wednesday also at the Big Dome.

For the record, no team has ever come back and won a title after falling behind 0-3 in a best-of-seven series.

To salvage the series, Rain or Shine must win four in a row against a team which has beaten them in all their previous six matches in an all-Filipino tourney.

“We put ourselves in a position to score a sweep. And so we’ll definitely go for it Wednesday,” said Talk n Text coach Norman Black, now on the verge of marking his PBA comeback with a championship.

“Normally, I don’t talk about a sweep. But now that we’re here, we’ll definitely come to win at the Araneta Coliseum Wednesday,” Black insisted.

Castro and De Ocampo were men of the hour, emerging top contenders not only for the Best Player of the Conference but also for the Papa John’s Finals MVP award.

The E-Painters put in their best showing in the series but the Tropang Texters held sway and made it three in a row with a big finishing kick by Castro, Alapag, De Ocampo and Ryan Reyes.

The Texters, who fell behind by nine at 61-70 at the start of the fourth quarter, regained control at 82-76 entering the last three minutes on three straight triples by De Ocampo and Alapag.

 â€œWe went to the game thinking they would throw everything at us. We thought it would be more physical and we have to hang around. We did struggle offensively at the start but our defense held on,” said Black.

Chris Tiu and Ryan Araña came through with key baskets as Rain or Shine established some rhythm and opened a five-point lead, 64-59, in the third quarter of the contest watched by a crowd of over 16,000.

Scoring only two points each in the first half, Tiu and Araña rifled in eight apiece in the third period.

Harvey Carey stood his ground against Paul Lee’s drive then the Texters ran their own transition play with Jason Castro stopping atop the key and popping a jumper just before the buzzer sounded, giving the Texters a 42-39 lead at the turn.

It was the E-Painters’ best first-half performance in the series that saw them fight the Texters through five deadlocks and nine lead changes.