On CJ Cansino’s best night, finals-bound TNT plays spoiler

MANILA, Philippines – Not even a career night from CJ Cansino could stop TNT from marching into the PBA finals for the fourth straight time. 

The Tropang 5G played spoiler against Cansino’s scoring outburst as they dispatched the Meralco Bolts in Game 5 of their best-of-seven Philippine Cup semifinal series with a thrilling 99-96 escape at the Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, January 14. 

“Unbelievable, unbelievable game,” TNT coach Chot Reyes said of Cansino’s explosion. 

Overall, Cansino poured in 17 of his game-high 36 markers in the fourth and final period alone.

With Cansino taking over for Meralco late, the Chris Newsome-less Bolts looked poised to extend the series into a Game 6, holding a 96-91 lead with only 27 seconds left in the game. 

But TNT had other plans. 

TNT closed out the contest on a blistering 8-0 run, highlighted by a clutch four-pointer by Rey Nambatac, followed by a quick steal and a basket from Jordan Heading to put the Tropang 5G in the driver’s seat. 

In the end, Heading and Reyes could only tip their hat to Cansino, who almost single-handedly carried Meralco to victory, erupting for a career-best 36 points on 12-of-20 shooting and an 8-of-10 clip from the foul line. 

“CJ was playing unbelievably confident basketball down the stretch there, which was given the moment, really impressive with how long he’s been in this league,” said Heading, who likewise put on a show for TNT with 31 points.

“So I just want to give him a shout out and give him my respect. As a competitor, he got the better of me a couple of possessions there.” 

After TNT built an 86-76 cushion with 5:46 to play in the fourth, Cansino delivered a booming four-point shot, which fueled a quick 9-0 Meralco rally to trim the Tropang 5G’s advantage to just a single point with 3:38 to go.  

Cansino continued to torch TNT’s defense late in the fourth, unloading 8 more points in the final three minutes, including the tough fadeaway jumper over Simon Enciso which gave Meralco a 95-91 lead.  

However, the sophomore guard out of the University of the Philippines ran out of gas in the dying seconds, committing the costly turnover from backcourt that led to Heading’s go-ahead layup, before missing his last two attempts from the field.

As TNT now awaits the winner of the other semifinal pairing between the San Miguel Beermen and the Barangay Ginebra Gin Kings, Reyes stressed the importance of rest and recovery, especially with the Tropang 5G already missing the services of Roger Pogoy due to a hamstring injury. 

The Beermen hold a 3-2 series lead over the Gin Kings in their best-of-seven affair following a 115-109 Game 5 win on Wednesday. 

“It’s going to be a big shift in mindset. To be very honest, coming into this series, we were slightly favored to win. But going into the next series, whether it’s San Miguel or Ginebra, we’re going to be underdogs, obviously because we don’t have their size, their depth, their talent, and the crowd support,” said Reyes.

“Right now, our focus is going to be our rest and our recovery, and preparing as best we can while waiting for the result of the other series.” – Rappler.com