TNT import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson with another triple-double. –PBA IMAGES
ANTIPOLO CITY — Rondae Hollis-Jefferson brushed off concerns of a groin injury sustained in TNT’s blowout win over Meralco in Game 1 of their PBA Governors’ Cup semifinal series.
“I’m good,” Hollis-Jefferson said after the Tropang Giga’s 110-80 rout of the Bolts on Friday at Ynares Center here.
The former NBA player was subbed out with three minutes left in the third quarter and was never inserted back by coach Jojo Lastimosa as the game was already well in TNT’s hand.
Though initially worried when Hollis-Jefferson’s condition was discussed before the postgame press conference, Lastimosa believes his do-it-all import will be fine and well going into Game 2 slated Sunday afternoon in this city.
“I think he’s fine,” Lastimosa said after Hollis-Jefferson produced 22 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists.
A severe injury to Hollis-Jefferson is something TNT can’t afford to have at this point of the conference, especially with the way he has performed since being signed to replace Jalen Hudson midway through the eliminations.
Hollis-Jefferson proved to be a major problem for a Meralco side that was two days removed from a hard-fought overtime victory that eliminated Magnolia in the quarters and became the first player since 2019 to produce a triple-double in back-to-back games.
Former TNT import Terrence Jones did the trick in that year’s PBA Commissioner’s Cup.
“We played pretty good,” Hollis-Jefferson said, perhaps taking into consideration the support he had from RR Pogoy, Calvin Oftana and Mikey Williams.
“We could’ve done a couple things better. But you know that’s basketball, basketball is a game of runs, they made some, we made some, but we stayed resilient and came out on top,” he added.