By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Eager to avoid a 1-3 hole, the TNT Tropang Giga made the necessary adjustments to clamp down on the San Miguel Beermen, 100-87, during Game 4 of the ongoing 2022 PBA Philippine Cup grand finals.
The Tropang Giga capitalized on its speed advantage and pummeled the Beermen, pushing the ball at every opportunity for easy scores.
Scoring machine guard Mikey Williams delivered from the get-go and scored eight points out of Tropang Giga’s 18 at the end of the first quarter.
Held down by San Miguel’s veteran defensive star Chris Ross during the last two games below his average numbers, Williams schooled the Beermen defense and scored two acrobatic layups capped off by a booming triple from the right elbow.
Jayson Castro then finished what Williams started after spearheading a massive offensive rally in the second quarter that helped TNT establish a double-digit lead.
However, it only took six minutes for the Beermen to retake the lead and erase their double-digit deficit after a June Mar Fajardo deuce in the paint, 51-52.
The Tropang Giga stayed composed and went back to their crisp ball movement that fueled a momentum-clinching 7-0 run led by back-to-back drives from Castro and Poy Erram’s three-pointer at the top of the key.
From there, the Beermen failed to regain their rhythm and could only watch the Tropang Giga dissect their defense in the final quarter.
The duo of RR Pogoy and Castro showed flashes of their Game 1 brilliance and carried a bulk of the TNT offense for seven-straight minutes.
“Coach Chot said turnovers were key for us. We had a lot of turnovers, 24 the last game. So that’s the no. 1 on the list heading towards this game,” said interim coach Sandy Arespacochaga.
Castro led all scorers in the game and finished with 26 big points for TNT backstopped by his backcourt brothers Pogoy and Williams with 21 and 15, respectively.
Meanwhile, Fajardo, the newly-crowned PBA Best Player of the Conference, top-scored San Miguel with 20 points while Simon Enciso chipped in 15 points.
