Castro covers for struggling teammates in TNT win vs Ginebra

MANILA, Philippines – Jayson Castro shouldered the offensive brunt of TNT's offense to will KaTropa past crowd favorite Barangay Ginebra in the nightcap of Sunday's PBA action at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

With KaTropa's new backcourt struggling, the veteran Castro took it upon himself to fend off the Gin Kings en route to finishing 27 points, five assists and three steals.

"Well I think at this point, it's the nice thing about having a depth at least in the guard rotation so at least when some guys struggle, we could use somebody else," said TNT coach Nash Racela.

"[Tonight], obviously Terrence was struggling with his game, we got really good minutes from RR Garcia. And that's something we're trying to preach with this team -- guys being ready. RR didn't play the other game but today he gave us good five minutes in the, third," he added.

Castro was off target in his early attemtpts to drain triples but was able to drill the important ones. He knocked down two treys in succession just as the Gin Kings were threatening to come back in the payoff period.

Terrence Romeo was 1-for-9 form the field, finishing with just three points, while Jericho Cruz converted only two of his four looks, ending up with just five markers in the game. Garcia was held scoreless in his five minutes on the floor but made his presence felt with hustle plays.

Interestingly, Ginebra's import Charles Garcia outscored TNT counterpart Jeremy Tyler, 15-2. But TNT still pulled through behind the contributions of Troy Rosario, RR Pogoy and Don Trollano.

Castro's latest performance places him as the first cager to have notched all Best Player citations in a team's 3-0 start.

The victory keeps TNT's record unblemished in three outings. Ginebra, which skidded to 0-2 in the mid-season joust, suffered its worst start in two seasons.

"A 3-0 start... It's nice when you win games at the start. But ... instead winning games at the start of the conference, we'd rather have wins sa end of the conference," Racela said.

"It's nice cause it kinds of gives us a head start, something that we didn't have last conference. But yeah, mahaba pa ang komperensya. San Miguel nga, next week pa maglalaro, diba? Nakakarecover na sila after that championship. So we'll see," he closed.

TNT takes on Alaska next while Ginebra has Blackwater on deck.