No Jayson Castro in the fourth? No problem for TNT Tropang Giga.
Tropang Giga got their timing right and moved out of range against the San Miguel Beermen with their timely outside shots to take Game 5 of their best-of-seven finals series,102-93, in the 2022 Philippine Basketball Association Philippine Cup at the Araneta Coliseum.
Kelly Williams took charge after Castro got injured in the third period, knocking in two of four key triples at two crucial moments, allowing the Tropang Giga to pull off the nine-point win and a 3-2 lead in their series.
Minutes after Castro left the court on a sprained right ankle, a trio of three-pointers from Kelly and Mikey Williams, and Kib Montalbo found their marks in the last 38 seconds of the third period.
The next time the 6’6” Williams struck was in the final 1:08 and this gave TNT a 100-91 cushion in the ensuing play of the fourth period.
The 40-year old Williams found his mark at the end of a 7-0 run, which came after SMB threatened by four, 89-93.
It was the most points that Williams has scored in a game in the playoffs since hitting 23 in their 102-106 TNT loss to Rain or Shine in the quarterfinals of the 2017 Governors’ Cup.
“We have no excuse to look at anything to put us down. We were ready for a situation like this,” said Williams, who finished with 21 points, including three in the third and eight in the last period.
Mikey Williams led with 23 points for the Tropang Giga, while Best Player of the Conference JuneMar Fajardo of SMB shot 20 points and had 16 rebounds.
The win moved TNT a win shy of their their second crown, after winning it last year from the Magnolia Timplados Hotshots.
“The word that comes to my mind is courageous. I thought we fought with a lot of courage,” said the Tropang Giga coach Chot Reyes, who said that not only Castro got hurt, Poy Erram was able to suit after spraining an ankle in practice the other day.
