TNT veterans seemed to have found the fountain of youth.
After Jayson Castro turned back the hands of the time in the first couple of games in the series, it was Kelly Williams' turn to put up a vintage performance and power TNT to a crucial 102-93 triumph and move on cusp of its second straight Philippine Cup title in Game 5 of their best-of-seven Finals series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Williams put up an inspiring performance all-game long to help the Tropang Giga buck the absence of Castro who went down with an ankle injury with 7:29 to go in the third frame.
Kelly then connived with Mikey Williams and RR Pogoy and anchored a huge third quarter breakaway to send the Beermen to their first back-to-back losses in the conference for a 3-2 series lead.
Kelly posted a conference-high of 21 points built on four triples along with nine rebounds while holding the ground against June Mar Fajardo who was limited to just five points in the first half.
Mikey dropped 12 of his 23 points in the third quarter on top of five assists and four rebounds. He also drilled six three-pointers, two of which he unloaded during a searing 14-2 finishing kick in the same quarter that allowed the Tropang Giga take an 84-75 lead heading into the payoff period after trailing by three, 73-70.
Pogoy, after a four straight 20-point output in the first four games, settled with just 14 but had six rebounds.
TNT head coach Chot Reyes lauded the efforts of his wards especially after Castro went down and never returned to the game.
“ We always say that when one man goes down there’s no one person who can fill the shoes of Jayson Castro but every other person, in their own little way, little by little way can. I think that’s what happened today, everyone pitched in, Kib Montalbo, Matt Rosser, everyone pitched in to be able to compensate what we lack in the absence of Jayson Castro,” said Reyes.
It was actually a see-saw affair after Castro rolled his ankle after landing on the foot of Marcio Lassiter who was then assessed with a flagrant foul penalty 1. The veteran point guard powered through the pain and swished two free throws to tie the game 61-all.
Down by three, 73-70, the Tropang Giga then unleashed a barrage of three pointers as the two Williams buried back-to-back triples. Mikey then drilled another long triple before Montalbo capped the hot streak with a trey of his own to seize full control of the contest.
Fajardo, who, after a rough first half went on to work in the final two quarters, finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds but were not enough as the Beermen fell short of its comeback hopes. Kelly put the nail on SMB’s coffin, nailing a cold-blooded three pointer with 1:09 left, 100-91, to put the game to rest.