Talk N Text will try to make it two wins in a row over Powerade in the PBA Philippine Cup finals today.
The Tropang Texters beat the Tigers 116-100 in Friday's Game 1 in Digos City.
TNT waxed hot early on and held on to its lead the rest of the way. Ryan Reyes, Jayson Castro, Larry Fonacier, Jared Dillinger and Ranidel De Ocampo were on target throughout the night to foil any hopes of a Powerade comeback. Castro topscored for the Texters with 23 points while Reyes and Dillinger had 15 apiece.
TNT also managed to minimize the scoring of Gary David, holding the league's top pointmaker to only 19 points. It was Sean Anthony who topscored for the Tigers with 23 points. Powerade was weakened by the absence of star rookie JV Casio, who was out with a hamstring injury. The top rookie pick is expected to make his series debut today.
Despite drawing first blood, TNT coach Chot Reyes expects a tough series against the eighth-ranked Tigers. "We need to be ready for Casio’s return and a huge fight-back from Powerade," he said.
His counterpart in Powerade also stressed the presence of Casio, who played good music with David and fellow rookie Marcio Lassiter in their Cinderella run to the finals.
"We may win one game without JV, but we definitely cannot win a series without him," he said.
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