Joshua Smith finally came up with the numbers befitting his humongous frame and justified TNT KaTropa coach Nash Racela’s decision to bring him over as the Texters enter what is expected to be a colossal Final Four series with Barangay Ginebra.
Shooting 31 points and grabbing 27 rebounds, Smith was a big reason for the Texters’ 104-96 overtime win over Meralco in their KO game Friday night as TNT KaTropa advanced to the best-of-five semifinals starting Sunday at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.
“That’s basically the reason why we decided to change imports,” TNT coach Nash Racela said when someone pointed to the coming series against the Gin Kings, who defeated them in the elimination round while Donte Greene was still their reinforcement.
“We lost to Ginebra and Star and we won against San Miguel which didn’t have June Mar (Fajardo) then,” he went on. “We’re really hopeful that it will be different in the Ginebra series.”
The Texters battled the Bolts through overtime for the second straight game, but pulled this one out to close out the hard luck Bolts, 2-1.
But when asked what he thought of Game 1 of the series with the Kings, Racela stared blankly at reporters and said he needed five minutes to digest what they just achieved.
“Our main focus today was how to win this game,” the rookie coach said. “Our efforts today was for that alone.”
Jason Castro scored 31 points, 22 of them coming in the final two periods as he and Smith brought the Texters back to life. Smith fired 17 of his total in the final half and had four points in overtime, which was forged at 89-all.
Baser Amer led the Bolts with 25 and Jared Dillinger had 20 points.
The Final Four begins Saturday when powerhouse San Miguel Beer opens up against Star also at the Big Dome.
Game time is at 5 p.m.