MANILA, Philippines — For the first time in Season 49, TNT, the reigning PBA Governors’ Cup and Commissioner’s Cup kings, put together a winning outing against Terrafirma, the cellar dwellers.
Needing all the boosts they could get for their turnaround bid in the Philippine Cup, the Tropang 5G went all out and walloped the Dyip, 110-74, to roll to back-to-back victories and 2-3 overall last night at the PhilSports Arena.
The grand slam hunters opened the game with five booming three-pointers en route to a 15-4 tear that set the tone for the payback against an opponent they haven’t defeated all season long.
Previously, TNT fell to Terrafirma twice, 72-84 and 117-108, in what might be the only stain in its championship runs in the first two conferences.
“Our objective coming into this game was to make sure we beat Terrafirma with our effort and energy. We all know matagal na naming hindi natatalo ang team na ito. We didn’t have a good record against them so we wanted to change it this time,” TNT coach Chot Reyes said.
Prior to the 36-point romp, Reyes’ troops’ last win versus the Dyip was a 100-97 verdict in the Season 48 All-Filipino elims way back March 9, 2024.
TNT, which opened the conference at 0-3, cracked the Magic 8 in the standings with this result, which came after its 89-84 breakthrough against San Miguel Beer.
“We wanted to make sure hindi masayang ‘yung huling panalo namin. We got a big win against San Miguel and we wanted to follow it up with another good effort,” said Reyes.
The Tropang 5G came out of the gate firing and dominated the first 12 minutes, 31-18. With no let up, they widened the gap to 18 in the second canto, 36 in the third and 46 in the fourth before settling for the final winning margin.