In another awesome display of firepower, the Tropang Texters literally buried the Elasto Painters with an avalanche of baskets early before taking it easy in the fourth period and finishing the game in cruise control.
The win extended the franchise mark of consecutive victories and more importantly, it enabled the Texters to once again pull abreast with San Miguel in the race for the No. 1 ranking in this round.
Talk ’N Text took the half by 21 and then led by as many as 35 in the third period after two Mac Cardona free throws made it 71-36, as the Texters made the formidable Painters look ugly indeed before riding to 11-2.
Rain or Shine, which came into the game with a two-match winning streak, dropped to 6-6, its chances of advancing to the playoffs outright via the quarterfinal round taking a serious hit with the loss.
“If you look at the history of these two teams, Rain or Shine has always beaten Talk ‘N Text (in tournaments) even when they were still new to the league,” coach Chot Reyes said. “The Talk ’N Text teams of the past had the tendency to take this team for granted.” Reyes talked about not taking the Painters for granted, but his Texters played without mercy on the floor as their defenses also held as they limited franchise players Solomon Mercado and Gabriel Norwood to a combined 11 points.
“We just made sure that we defend not only their top players, but to make sure we do our job on the other guys as well,” Reyes said. “That was critical tonight.” Five players scored in twin digits for Reyes, who said that he literally ran his players to the ground in their last three practices to make sure that they don’t get complacent after experiencing a run as sweet as this one.
“We’re very obsessive with how hard we practice,” Reyes added. “After tonight, there are four tough teams in the horizon for us starting Saturday with Barangay Ginebra. We have to put this game behind us and focus on Ginebra which is another very strong team.” The Texters have won their previous nine games by an average of 15 points, but ever since Kelly Williams and Ryan Reyes arrived from that blockbuster trade with Sta. Lucia, Talk ‘N Text had become deadlier.
Their prior two wins came at the expense of Air21, 126-100, and the Realtors, 93-79, another game where they tapered off in the endgame, making the Texters the clear cut favorites to go all the way to the Finals and win all the marbles.
In the second game, Derby Ace played hard enough to repulse Sta. Lucia, 73-66, that gave the Llamados a third place tie with the idle Gin Kings at 8-5.
“Though ugly it was in the end, we’re glad that we got something positive with the outcome (a win),” Derby Ace coach Ryan Gregorio told reporters.
“We didn’t play the way we wanted to tonight, but I guess, a win sort of covers up for all of that,” he added after getting 21 points from James Yap and 18 from Paul Artadi in the ho-hum game that picked up pace only in the final six minutes.
Anthony Johnson paced the Realtors with 23 markers before fouling out with under a minute left and Pong Escobal was the only other player in twin digits for the Realtors, who have lost four straight now and are at 4-9.
