MANILA, Philippines – TNT failed to stretch its winning streak to 3 games no thanks to a monumental meltdown against Meralco, but veteran Jayson Castro assured there would be no finger-pointing in the team. 

The KaTropa failed to protect a 21-point lead and fizzled out in the 4th quarter as the Bolts came away with an 88-77 win in the 2019 PBA Philippine Cup on Wednesday, January 30.

Not only did TNT see its winning streak snapped, the loss also put to waste the momentum the team gained from its upset of reigning four-time all-Filipino champion San Miguel 3 days ago. 

“Sana [nanalo] para na-establish namin sana ‘yung team namin. Unfortunately, talo. Pero marami namang positives, at the same time na-outhustle kami, na-outwork kami. Talagang tinalo nila kami,” Castro told reporters. 

(I wish we could have won so we could establish the team. Unfortunately, we lost. But we took a lot of positives from this. We were just outhustled and outworked. They plainly beat us.) 

“So looking forward na lang sa game sa Sunday. ‘Yun naman ‘yung maganda sa team namin ngayon, walang nagpo-point fingers, basta lahat kami positive. Manalo, matalo, team pa rin kami.” 

(We’re just looking forward to Sunday’s game. That’s what good with the team, there are no pointing fingers. All of us our positives. Win or lose, we’re one team.) 

Castro was one of the few bright spots in the loss, taking charge in scoring with a team-high 20 points. 

He lacked sufficient help, though, with only Roger Pogoy breaching double figures – a far cry from Meralco having 5 of its players finishing in twin digits.

But Castro said the loss was caused by major defensive lapses. 

“Noong start ng 3rd, medyo masama ‘yung defense namin. Hindi namin na-execute gusto naming gawin. At the same time sobrang ano, ‘yung mga miscommunication sa defense,” he said. 

(When the 3rd quarter started, we already showed poor defense. We weren’t really executing our schemes well. At the same time, we also had defensive miscommunication.) 

Falling to a 2-3 card, TNT looks to return to the winning column as it faces the debuting Magnolia on Sunday, February 3, at the Mall of Asia Arena. – Rappler.com