Lastimosa defends Hollis-Jefferson amid flagrant foul in TNT game vs Converge

MANILA, Philippines -- If you were to ask TNT Tropang Giga head coach Jojo Lastimosa, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson did not have malice on the play that ejected him from their PBA Commissioner’s Cup game Saturday night against the Converge FiberXers.

At the 11:20 mark of the third quarter, Hollis-Jefferson dunked the ball off a spin.

After completing the one-handed jam, he rebounded the ball and seemingly bounced it on the head of Mike Nieto.

This led to his ejection from the game, which TNT won in overtime, 101-98.

Lastimosa, after the game, said he thinks the lefty import did not have malicious intent.

"I think there was no malice or intent of Rondae to bounce the ball. Why would he?" the head coach told reporters in Filipino.

"But, that's how the officials saw it. It was just... they called a flagrant two on our import. Just like that," he added.

Lastimosa said Hollis-Jefferson may already be frustrated by that time, since Converge was getting real physical with the import.

"My read there was, he's been frustrated the whole time. He's being pushed and when he made a basket, I felt it was a foul," he said.

"I think he just wanted to grab the ball."

In 19 minutes, Hollis-Jefferson finished with a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds.

He missed the first game of TNT against the Magnolia Hotshots last week, as he was still recovering from gastroenteritis.

"Why would he do it with intent? That is just my question there."

TNT is now holding a 1-1 slate.