PBA: Texters continue dominance, blast Gin Kings in finals opener

The Talk 'N Text domination continues. The Tropang Texters brought their winning streak all the way to the PBA Commissioner's Cup best-of-seven Finals series and easily dismantled the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, 102-83, in Game 1 Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum. It was the 12th straight win for the Texters, who now leads the race-to-four series, 1-0. Just as expected, Talk 'N Text played with more energy and preserved their legs for the final push in the second half to turn a close encounter into a rout. Coaches Chot Reyes of Talk 'N Text and Jong Uichico of Ginebra expected this to happen. "Coming into the series, our mindset is to capitalize on the longer rest that we had and continue to put the pressure," said Reyes, whose team clobbered the visibly tired Gin Kings in the battle of the boards, 63-46. Talk 'N Text's 21 rebounds came at the offensive end, which showed how the Texters had the fresher legs to compete against the veteran-laden Gin Kings. Reyes' counterpart, Uichico, could only watch in horror as his Gin Kings were beaten black and blue after the team came back in the latter stretch of the second quarter to take a slim 47-46 lead. The Texters scored 58 points in the second half then held the Gin Kings to only 36 — 12 coming in the third period. "It's a loss. If you're tired, you find a way to show effort at least. We did the best we can. We knew this would happen. We just couldn't get the job done," added Uichico, who had an emotional outburst while contesting a call. He was asked by PBA commissioner Atty. Chito Salud to appear before his office on Thursday. Uichico was called for a technical foul for continuously complaining and even bumped referee Maui Maurillo when he was charging towards the official. The usually mild-mannered mentor needed to be restrained by members of his coaching staff — Allan Caidic and Siot Tanquingcen — when he entered the court for the second time. Also expected to appear before Commissioner Salud are Mark Caguioa of Ginebra and Jason Castro of Talk 'N Text. Caguioa, who led the Gin Kings with 23 points, was called for a Flagrant Foul Penalty 1 for tripping Castro. Castro, on the other hand, was called for a technical foul for second motion after hitting Billy Mamaril in the closing minutes of the match. But Talk 'N Text's dominating performance overshadowed the physicality of Game 1. Not only did the Texters played more active, their second unit also outhustled their Gin Kings counterpart. Second stringers Jason Castro, Ranidel de Ocampo, Larry Fonacier, Ali Peek and Emerson Oreta combined for 39 points to provide ample support to their starters. "Our second unit did a great job," said Reyes, the only coach to win at least two championships in three different teams. Paul Harris finished with 28 points and 15 rebounds while Ryan Reyes scored 19, including three triples. Castro added 15 points on a 6-of-9 field goal shooting while De Ocampo chipped in 10 markers and 13 rebounds for the Texters, who led by as much as 22 points, the last at 96-74, on a Harvey Carey basket. For awhile, the Gin Kings were poised to dictate the tempo of the match, leading 16-6 in the first quarter. But a 15-4 run in a five-minute stretch enabled the Tropang Texters to grab the upper hand at the end of the first period. Another 15-5 spurt, anchored on Reyes' back-to-back baskets, gave the Texters their first sizable lead, 39-29, before the Gin Kings made a big run in the final three minutes with Caguioa's buzzer-beating three-pointer pushing Ginebra back on top, 47-46, at the turn. But Talk 'N Text’s defense started to pick up in the third, holding the Gin Kings to just two field goals in the first seven minutes while unloading 14 points behind Castro and De Ocampo, whose triple gave the Texters a 60-51 lead, 5:30 left in the said quarter. The Gin Kings never got any closer. - OMG, JVP, GMA News