PBA semis: Allen Durham carries Meralco past TNT to tie series

Meralco Bolts in the PBA semifinals. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines–Allen Durham completed a triple-double and the entire Meralco roster fed off of that on Tuesday night as the Bolts got back in the thick of their Final Four fight with powerhouse TNT after an authoritative 114-94 victory at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao.

Durham finished with 44 points, 19 rebounds and 11 assists in a sterling effort that boosted the Bolts, who knotted this best-of-five series after two games and will go into the crucial Game 3 on Thursday with a lot of confidence.

Meralco’s defense starved the KaTropa to just 29 first half points, where the Bolts built leads of as large as 35 to put the game away that early.

The form of the KaTropa suffered a huge dip compared to the way they played Sunday when they smothered the Bolts on the way to a 103-94 win. In that game, TNT held Durham to just 32 points.

But Game 2 was entirely different as the TNT defense didn’t work one bit on the bull-strong import, who was recalled to the bench with still under three minutes left.