A BIT of fine-tuning in its game enabled TNT Tropang 5G to squeak past Magnolia and extend their PBA Philippine Cup quarterfinals duel at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
The Tropa should churn out at least more of the same against the Hotshots' own expected adjustments and built-in motivations Saturday in their do-or-die game that was a form of prop to his players' morale, according to coach Chot Reyes.
"Ang iniisip lang namin is that we're coming back and we're playing on Saturday," said Reyes following his sixth-seeded squad's 89-88 squeaker last Wednesday that negated the third-ranked Magnolia's win-once advantage in the duel.
"Going to this ballgame we set our practice schedule tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday because we were hellbent on playing on Saturday," added Reyes.
Another win and TNT would stay on track for its Grand Slam bid. But Reyes wants to deal with the task at hand first. "I think for us now the most important thing is our recovery," he said.
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"We have to recover, we have to do a good job resting the bodies."
Magnolia, which has not won anything since its 2018 Governors Cup triumph, is sure to come out with more intensity this time after blowing a 13-point third quarter lead and failing to get one defensive rebound inside the last 18 seconds of the game that deprived the Hotshots of the chance to break out of an 88-all count.
As a result, Kelly Williams got fouled by Will Navarro in the crucial rebounding battle and sank the charity that made the difference.
Williams finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, complementing Roger Pogoy's 30 points and helping Calvin Oftana reach a 21-16 double-double by attracting the box-outs.
It was not just Williams who keyed TNT's 51-40 advantage off the boards as Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser also played a major role with 10 points and six boards while combining with the 42-year-old former MVP for nine of the Tropa's last 11 points.
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"We told Brandon just to make sure to be a presence and whatever we get out of him offensively that's a big bonus," said Reyes.
For sure, Magnolia spent the last two days devising ways to remedy its defensive lapses in the first game, especially in the endgame.
Zavier Lucero, Navarro and fellow frontliner Ian Sangalang did combine for 38 points and 15 boards, but more effort is needed from the rest of the Hotshots in neutralizing the Tropa's rebounding dominance, as well as containing the latter's triple threat in Pogoy, Oftana and Jordan Heading.(NC)
