New import Jordan helps Talk ‘N Text reach playoffs

With a 7-foot frame and a 90-inch wingspan, Jerome Jordan debuted for Talk ‘N Text last night and put Barangay Ginebra’s Vernon Macklin and the short-handed Gin Kings in their proper place.
The Tropang Texters led from start to finish after limiting Macklin to his lowest PBA scoring total in a 100-86 decision of the Kings that formally put Talk ‘N Text into the Commissioner’s Cup playoffs at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Jordan scored 23 points —majority of them on dunks in the second half — while grabbing 17 rebounds in a resounding debut that gave the Texters their seventh win in 13 games and in a position to make the upper half of the bracket in the playoffs.
Ginebra, meanwhile, lost a second straight game after seeing a six-game winning streak come to a halt last week, and the Kings, with a 7-7 card, don’t have their fate in their hands and could even go down to as low as No. 7 in the quarterfinals.
And should that happen, Ginebra will be left with no choice but to beat the No. 2 team two straight times to make the Final Four, certainly a bleak development for the team that was the hottest squad in the tournament before two weeks ago.
Macklin, after coming into the game averaging a shade over 26 points, was held down to just 12, six of them from free throws in the fourth period.
The hardworking Ginebra import also scored above 30 points in three of the last four Ginebra games, but with Jordan throwing his weight around the paint, Macklin looked lost at times.
“Jerome did a good job defensively tonight,” Talk ‘N Text coach Norman Black said. “We had more energy offensively tonight also and that was very big for us.”
There were four locals who finished in twin digits for Black with Ranidel de Ocampo shooting 20 points.
Ginebra, which won its first clash with the Texters in the conference, 107-100 when it still had Mark Caguioa, was paced by the 22 points of Kerby Raymundo.
Talk ‘N Text started out hot, closing out the first period with a 32-17 lead only to be threatened in the second half by the never-say-die Kings, who were energized by the resurgent Raymundo.
But Raymundo, who scored 12 of his total in the third period, picked up his final two fouls inside the first four minutes of the fourth and the Kings struggled offensively even more.
The closest that Ginebra could come was at 63-65 before the Texters dropped a 12-2 run that more or less took the fight out of the Kings. Raymundo also exited the game during that stretch.
Meralco has Petron Blaze as its last foe on Wednesday and a win by the Bolts would make the Kings the No. 7 seeds, which would mean drawing No. 2 Rain or Shine in the quarterfinals and needing to beat the Elasto Painters two straight games.
Rain or Shine will play Talk ‘N Text at the close of the elimination round also on Wednesday and a victory by the Texters would put them into a best-of-three quarterfinal series with a foe that will be determined in the final standings.
As things stand, Alaska and Rain or Shine have twice-to-beat privileges in the quarterfinals after finishing 1-2 in the elimination round, while Air21, which upset Petron on Saturday, 95-91, is the No. 8 seed and will clash with the Aces.
Globalport and Barako Bulll are the teams that made an early exit, and both locked horns earlier last night with the Energy prevailing, 96-87.
Allein Maliksi led the Energy with 25 points as Barako Bull ended its Commissioner’s Cup campaign with a 5-9 record.
Globalport wound up with a 2-10 card, winning just one more game than it did in the Philippine Cup.