TNT gets 'perfect' game to regain series lead vs NLEX in PBA playoffs

TNT finally had its “perfect” game in these PBA Governors’ Cup playoffs.

The Tropang Giga clicked on both ends Sunday, riding a good wave to take a strong 109-91 win over NLEX in Game 3 of their quarterfinals series.

Bouncing back from a tough Game 2, the defending champion TNT regained the upper hand in the series, 2-1, and now move to one win away from the semis.

On offense, the Tropang Giga got five players in double figures led by import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson with 27 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists.

Calvin Oftana got 18, while Rey Nambatac had 17. Glenn Khobuntin also had a nice game, shooting a perfect 5/5 from deep for 17 total points, highlight TNT’s smooth offense.

[Related: Glenn Khobuntin's perfect outside game spark TNT's explosive Game 3 response to NLEX]

To hammer the point home, TNT only committed eight turnovers, a far cry from the nightmarish 16 the team had in the Game 2 loss. 

“All of our discussion yesterday at practice was just how to continue making some slight adjustments with our defense, and then counter the adjustments they made in Game 2 with their defense,” head coach Chot Reyes said.

“They gave us a lot of problems on offense, we turned the ball over 16 times in the last game which is way beyond our average. We made sure that our players were aware of it um and they did a good job responding,” he added.

Over on defense, TNT limited NLEX to just 41.7 percent shooting from the field.

The Road Warriors’ main guns were stymied, with import DeQuan Jones only going for 16, after a combined 76 points in the first two games.

Reigning PBA Scoring Champion Rober Bolick also continued his mini slump, finishing with just 12 points.

All in all, it was a slam dunk response TNT needed after Game 2.

“Any team in this League to win by a big margin, it has to be a combination of good defense with good offense. So finally tonight, we were able to get both,” Reyes said.