Parks drops career-best 40, powers TNT past Terrafirma

It was Ray Parks’ turn to drop 40 for TNT Giga. PBA IMAGES

MANILA, Philippines — Ray Parks more than made up for lost time after he powered TNT past Terrafirma, 112-101, in the PBA Philippine Cup at AUF Sports Arena & Cultural Center Tuesday in Pampanga.

Two days after Roger Pogoy set a career-high with 45 points, it was Parks’ turn to set his own, delivering a 40-point masterpiece that went with 10 rebounds and five assists.

“Well, we know that we’re still feeling it out. But we came out with great effort today,” said Parks, who went 13-of-18 from the field including 7-of-10 from downtown. “I just wanna show the hard work I put in, the team has put in.”

“We’re just happy we started well, started strong and we were able to finish the game,” said TNT head coach Bong Ravena, who also lauded his center Poy Erram for playing a “controlled” game this time after getting ejected during Sunday’s game against Alaska.

Parks had it going in his bubble debut despite coming off a calf injury that forced him to miss the Tropang Giga’s 100-95 win over Alaska last Sunday.

Troy Rosario added 20 points and 15 rebounds for the Tropang Giga, who never trailed and led by as many as 19.

“The important thing for us is to be able to win as many games as possible,” said Ravena, whose squad is on top of the standings at 2-0.

CJ Perez scored a team-high 30 points but shot just 9-of-23 from the field for the Dyip, who had more turnovers (16) than assists (12).