CASTRO ON FIRE AS TNT TAKES GAME 3 OVER PUREFOODS
Twenty-four hours after his enshrinement in the league’s elite list of greatest players, Jayson Castro produced a kind of game that just everybody would look up to.
Castro strung up a career-best eight triples to spike a stellar 27-point game as Talk ‘N Text carved out a 111-107 win to move in the doorstep of a second straight PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Thursday night.
The FIBA World Cup veteran made those three-pointers on an impressive 8-of-9 clip, none bigger than the last one coming like an arrow straight to the Hotshots’ heart.
Castro rifled in a league-third-best seven straight three-pointers, the last opening a 111-103 lead for Talk ‘N Text with time down to 1:15.
“Jason is Jason,” said Talk ‘N Text head coach Jong Uichico, paying tribute to the guy that gave them the biggest lift in taking the crucial 2-1 lead in the best-of-five semifinal series.
They try to close out the series in Game Four Saturday or in Game Five, if necessary, on Monday also at the Big Dome.
Import Ivan Johnson, Ranidel de Ocampo, Aaron Aban, Jay Washington and Kevin Alas had their three-point conversions as the tropang Texters matched the season-best 19 triples Rain or Shine made in its 92-82 conquest of Meralco in Game Two of their own semis duel.
“Tough game – a scoring game in the first half that became a defensive battle in the second half. Both teams wanted to play and try their best to win. We’re fortunate we came out the winner,” said Uichico.
“But it’s just another game, a game that we should win, same with the other side. Purefoods has been here for a long time. They’re very capable,” said Uichico, not counting out the defending champions.
As in the last game, Johnson outplayed Purefoods counterpart Denzel Bowles when it mattered more as the tropang Texters pushed the Hotshots on the verge of losing another jewel of their grandslam feat last year.
Bowles came through with a game-high 39 points but Johnson struck harder in the clutch, draining 11 of his 26 points in the last quarter.
Johnson also came up with 14 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and one steal against one turnover in 36 minutes of action.
The Tropang Texters seized control as the game turned into a defensive battle in the second half.
Talk ‘N Text led just by three, 63-60, in the first half marked by 16 lead changes and 10 deadlocks.
So close was the first half that no team enjoyed a lead of more than five.
Castro scored 18 points in the first half and nailed a buzzer-beating trey off Marc Pingris as Talk ‘N Text carried an 89-80 spread into the payoff period.
The Hotshots actually closed to within three, 90-93, at the start of the fourth quarter then the Texters poured in four treys in a crucial 14-6 tear that opened a 107-96 lead for TNT entering the last four minutes of the game.
And Castro and Johnson just never wavered to the finish.
Talk ‘N Text banked on a hot 63-percent field shooting, including 10-of-15 three-pointers, while Purefoods leaned largely on Bowles’ 20 points in the first two quarters.
PJ Simon fired away nine points off the bench, including a three-pointer just before the buzzer as the Hotshots took the opening quarter at 33-32. (SB)
The scores:
TALK N’ TEXT 111 – Castro 27, Johnson 26, Aban 17, De Ocampo 14, Washington 10, Alas 9, Williams 6, Rosser 2, Fonacier 0.
PUREFOODS 107 – Bowles 39, Simon 18, Yap 11, Pingris 10, Devance 9, Barroca 8, Reavis 4, Mallari 4, Maliksi 4.
Quarterscores: 32-33, 63-60, 89-80, 111-107
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