MANILA: Just too much.
Talk ‘N Text, flaunting a power-packed lineup against a Barangay Ginebra crew that was two key players short, ripped the Gin Kings apart in the second half Wednesday night for an 87-72 victory that created a three-way logjam for third place in the PBA Philippine Cup eliminations at the Araneta Coliseum.
Jared Dillinger pumped in 18 points and had the same number of rebounds, underscoring the dominance of the Tropang Texters inside the paint against a Ginebra side that was without reigning MVP Jay-Jay Helterbrand and Mark Caguioa.
The defending champion Texters found it easy enough in the early goings but found it rosier in the second half after Celino Cruz, the only formidable guard left in the Ginebra roster when Helterbrand bruised his knee in practice, went down with a fractured left hand near the end of the second quarter. In fact, the Kings had to reactivate former MVP Johnny Abarrientos for the second time this season. But the 5-foot-8 member of the league’s 25 Greatest club still couldn’t rescue Ginebra from losing for the second straight night.
Talk ‘N Text improved to 5-3, now tied with its victim and idle Sta. Lucia, and more than winning Wednesday night, coach Chot Reyes was more excited about the prospects of inching closer the leaders when the first round of eliminations end.
“Coming into this game, being 4-3, we thought that if we could find a way to win our next two games, we’ll just be a game behind the second placer after the first round (of the eliminations),” Reyes said. “That’s not bad at all.
“We got a break when Jay-Jay couldn’t play,” he explained. “We talked about using Jayjay’s absence as an advantage. And not only Jay-Jay, but Mark (Caguioa) as well. Easily, those two could be good for 50 points on a good night.” But despite their handicap in starting the game, the Kings fought hard and forced six deadlocks and five lead changes before the defending champions eventually took the half, 41-38.
And that injury on Cruz told heavily in the final two periods, as the Kings slowly faded out of the fight with Ronald Tubid and JC Intal, who carried the offensive load for them early, failing to sustain their brilliance with the Talk ‘N Text defense concentrating on them more. The Ginebra duo combined for 20 points in the first half but was held down to just 12 in the final two periods.
Meanwhile, Rain or Shine won out in a battle of struggling teams earlier, breaking free from Coca-Cola in the fourth period for a 92-84 victory that put the Tigers in the bottom of the 10-team pack.
Jeff Chan had two straight triples at the height of the breakaway, and Solomon Mercado was at his sharpest and finished with 24 points as the Elasto Painters won just their second game in nine overall matches. But what is important for coach Caloy Garcia was that the win was able to stop their bleeding, so to speak, and gives them some sort of morale boost going into the second round of eliminations starting next week.
“We’ve been down for most part of the conference but we’re slowly picking up our stride,” Garcia told reporters. “I’ve never lost confidence on my players. I still think we can beat any team on any given night.”
Rain or Shine owns the mark in futility in the tournament after losing their first six games. Only Barako Bull has a losing streak close to that - five. The Painters better dominate the second round if they hope to make the playoffs outright and not be dragged in a KO affair in the wildcard phase.
