An inspired Mikey Williams proved too much of an offensive force to handle as he led the TNT Tropang Giga to a 116-95 demolition of Converge and into the semifinals of the PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Last season’s Rookie of the Year awardee, who recently signed a three-year contract with the Tropang Giga, struck with 22 of his 26 points in the second period to go with four assists as TNT advanced to the semifinal round, where it will battle either Magnolia or NLEX in a best-of-seven series.
The Magnolia Timplados Hotshots lead the Road Warriors in their own quarterfinal showdown, 1-0.
With Williams fuelling the Tropang Giga’s offense, TNT scored 70 points in the first half alone to set the tone of the rout.
This included a 40-point explosion in the second quarter en route to a 70-42 lead at the half against the no. 7 FiberXers.
Williams was mesmerizing in that stretch, where he banged in 22 to match the FiberXers’ total output for the period.
The Tropang even led by as much as 33 points in the wire-to-wire win.
Troy Rosario, returning from an injury, scored 18 points and hauled seven rebounds for TNT.
Williams and Rosario were backed by RR Pogoy, who had 16 points.
Tyrus Hill scored 18 points for Converge, which suffered a quarterfinal exit in its first playoff appearance as a franchise.