Smith, Castro lift Texters over Kings

MANILA, Philippines -  Josh Smith delivered a personal PBA high of 35 points in a dominant performance at the paint and a struggling Jayson Castro struck when he needed to at crunch time as TNT KaTropa eked out a 100-94 win over Barangay Ginebra in the opener of their PBA Commissioner’s Cup Final Four faceoff at the MOA Arena last night.

Even with hardly a breather from back-to-back overtime games, Smith and his teammates played with tremendous energy and firepower, and bested the the well-rested Gin Kings for the decisive head start in the best-of-five semis series.

They slug it out in Game Two at 7 p.m. at the same venue today.

Playing minimal minutes off the bench in the first half, Smith was an unstoppable force in the second half, grabbing 10 offensive rebounds and scoring 29 points against a double-teaming and even triple-teaming defense by the Gin Kings.

Castro, meanwhile, struggled badly from the field all throughout but made one three-pointer that sealed their win at 100-94 with 12.2 seconds to go.

“It’s like the last game, you give him the minutes and he will give you the numbers,” said TNT coach Nash Racela of Smith’s overpowering performance.

Racela also had nice words for Castro who seized the moment in the end with his dagger trey after missing all his first nine field-goal tries.

“Ayoko na nga sanang tumira siya, but Jayson is Jayson. He hit the biggest shot of the game. He’s born for that moment,” said Racela.

Roger Pogoy and Ranidel de Ocampo carried the cudgels early on, firing away 17 and 12 points, respectively, in the game they led from start to finish.

The Texters led by as many as 15 points at 64-49 on a personal five-point binge by Smith.

But in the tradition of the Ginebra team, the Gin Kings put up a chase in the fourth quarter to the delight of their cheering throng, coming within two at 88-90 entering the last three minutes of the contest.

They’re still right behind at 94-97 when Castro pumped in the game-clinching three-pointer off Sol Mercado.

“I’m now looking forward to lots of adjustments in the second game. It’s tough for sure,” said Racela. “The guys are tired for sure, but we can’t think about that. It’s about looking for ways to win. Fatigue? We’re trying to eliminate that from our minds.” Racela also said.