Castro pounces on open looks to keep TNT in the fight

Jayson Castro. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/ INQUIRER.net

After committing 10 turnovers in Game 3, Jayson Castro knew he had to make changes.

Instead of trying to set everyone up, he came out a little more selfish on offense and it worked.

“The more I think about the assists, the more I commit turnovers,” the TNT slasher said in Filipino. “I have wide open shots that I still decide to pass on. Coach Nash (Racela) told me to look at the shots because those are the ones that has been given to me by the defense.”

Castro racked up 10 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, on top of four rebounds, to tow the KaTropa to a 102-97 win over San Miguel to equalize the 2017 PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals to two games apiece.

TNT managed to diminish its turnovers from 23–10 from Castro–in Game 3 to only 17 in Game 4 and Castro has realized how valuable possessions are in a closely-contested series like this one.

“We’re taking it one possession at a time. Every possession counts, and we have to look at our first option, which is Joshua (Smith) in the low post because he’s aggressive for us in offense,” he said.

Smith finished with 20 points and 15 rebounds for the KaTropa, who averted disaster and evened the series at 2-2 to set up the virtual best-of-three series.

“That’s what we’re avoiding, to go down 1-3. I can say that we won this through our focus and composure, that even though we’re down, our focus is still there,” said Castro.

TNT seeks to ride this wave of momentum and go for the hill come Game 5 on Friday, still at Smart Araneta Coliseum.