Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Jamie Malonzo during a spat in Game 2 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals between Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings and TNT Tropang Giga. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines—TNT import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson missed the most important shot in Game 2 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals and he will certainly take that to heart.
Ginebra tied the best-of-seven series at 1-1 following a thrilling 71-70 win over the Tropang Giga in front of 12, 925 rowdy fans on Sunday in a finish that Hollis-Jefferson had a chance to change.
What could’ve been biggest shot of the night turned out to be Hollis-Jefferson’s biggest miss of the night.
“I’ll probably watch that shot 20 times,” said the two-time Best Import awardee.
“That’s on me. That’s something I want to get better at. That’s something I want to get better at or grow from it. You know, I’ll watch it. I’ll watch it. I’m not afraid to see where I messed up, where I made a mistake.”
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson in Game 2 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals featuring Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings vs TNT Tropang Giga. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
Ginebra, virtually, had the win at hand already when Scottie Thompson retrieved an offensive board off a Justin Brownlee miss in the dying seconds of the game.
Unfortunately, Thompson threw the rock at the wrong man, giving TNT one more chance to hit a shot that would give the Tropang Giga a 2-0 lead.
READ: PBA Finals: RHJ gives credit to Ginebra for late fightback
With 7.3 seconds to go, coach Chot Reyes called time and set up a play for import also known as RHJ to hit a game-winner. Unfortunately, he was doubled almost immediately, making him lose track of the ball.
When he got the handle back, it was simply too late.
“I expected the double. They don’t want me to get the shot out at the last seconds. They knew I wanted to shoot the ball, but when I lost it, I just couldn’t pick it back up,” he said.
“I just couldn’t pick it back up and the rest was history.”
Still, the Jordan naturalized player finished with a double-double of 25 points and 14 rebounds for TNT in the loss where he also got tangled up with Ginebra forward Jamie Malonzo in the third quarter.
The series goes back to square one with both teams having one win a piece.
Hollis-Jefferson and company hope to take the 2-1 lead when Game 3 rolls around at Philsports Arena on Wednesday.