By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
On the biggest stage and the brightest lights, veterans step up when their teams need them the most.
Jayson Castro will always be ‘The Blur’.
In front of the 11,021 Ginebra-pro crowd that attended Game 1 of the PBA Governor’s Cup Finals, Castro put on a masterclass after leading the TNT Tropang Giga to a lopsided 104-88 victory on October 27, 2024, at the Ynares Center.
The former FIBA ‘Best Point Guard in Asia’ turned back the hands of time and hosted a third-quarter clinic when he dropped 12 of his 14 points in the period alone, helping the Tropang Giga restore order when the Gin Kings threatened to inch close.
Castro’s third-quarter explosion made the difference as TNT momentarily lost their momentum when Ginebra trimmed their double-digit lead at the start of the frame.
With things starting to get out of hand for the Tropang Giga squad, Castro took matters into his own hands and took over the game as he sliced and diced the Ginebra interior defense with his vintage daredevil drives.
During that stretch, Castro also abused the mismatch that he had against Ginebra’s rookie guard RJ Abarrientos who just couldn’t stop his surge.
Castro hunted the Abarrientos mismatch in the third, steering the Tropang Giga back to a comfortable cushion and never looked back until the final buzzer sounded.
Picking up where Castro left off in the final 12 minutes of the ball game are Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Rey Nambatac, and Poy Erram who took turns in scoring the leather for TNT.
TNT’s superstar import only had 19 markers, a production below his PBA Playoff average but he stuffed the stat sheets with 10 rebounds and four assists.
Nambatac, who is playing in his first PBA Finals game under the TNT franchise, didn’t shy away from the challenge and supplied a double-double outing of 18 points, 10 rebounds, and seven dimes.
Erram on the other hand chipped in 15 points and capitalized every miscue that Ginebra had in their pick-and-pop defensive coverage.
Justin Brownlee contributed 23 points for the Gin Kings but shot poorly from the field, capping off their Game 1 loss with 38% shooting from the field.
A key factor to TNT’s dominant Game 1 win was how they defended Ginebra’s three-point shooting, where they forced the Tim Cone-led team to just 2/21 from rainbow country.
“They really rely a lot on their three-point shooting and there are days when it’s going to be off. But that’s not going to be everyday. That’s why we have to be prepared for the next game because we know hindi palaging ganyan,” said TNT head coach Chot Reyes.
The Tropang Giga will look to increase their PBA Finals lead to 2-0 when they meet again with the Gin Kings on October 30, 2024.
And that’s how they were lured by the winningest coach in the pba, end of story.