Durham rues Meralco’s poor endgame in Game 2 loss

Allen Durham. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

Allen Durham truly believed that Meralco already had Game 2 of the PBA Governors’ Cup Finals in the bag.

Leading 75-69 with 5:56 remaining, the Bolts were primed to equalizing the series.

That’s what Durham thought.

From that point on, Ginebra’s defense clicked as they held Meralco checked for the remainder of the game as the Gin Kings went on to fire a 17-1 run to end the game and claim the 86-76 Game 2 victory.

“We had a six-point lead in the fourth quarter. You got to be able pull a win out when you got a lead on a good team like that,” rued Durham, who was bestowed with his second straight Best Import award before the game.

The 29-year-old big man did all he could for Meralco to claim Game 2, uncorking 25 points, hauling down 22 rebounds, dishing out seven assists with two steals to boot.

The Bolts’ performance on Sunday was indeed an improvement from their listless showing in Game 1, but Durham noted that his team still needs a lot of fine-tuning, especially with the way they finished the game.

“We played a whole lot better than Game 1. I think everybody was focused,” he said. “But down the stretch, we didn’t execute. We missed our free throws at crucial moments. I think the officials made some questionable calls at crucial moments, but that’s in the past.”

But Durham isn’t putting too much thought on this game now, as he knows that the spotlight is now on Meralco to rebound in Game 3 on Wednesday.

“[The loss] spoiled a little bit of everything. When you play good for 44 minutes, and then we come out with a loss, it’s kind of hard to take. But you got to move forward. The good thing is we’re not too deep in the hole and we still can come back. But we got to find a way to get that win on Wednesday,” he said.