Bolts recharging for Game 2 fightback

MANILA, Philippines — Bungling what initially looked like a winning position stung but the Meralco Bolts are quick to do what elite teams do after a misstep – move on.

“It’s far from over. There’s still a lot of basketball to be played,” said coach Luigi Trillo after the Bolts absorbed a 100-95 loss to TNT in a PBA Season 50 Philippine Cup semifinal series opener that saw them squander a huge 21-point lead. “But we need to be better.”

The Bolts imposed their will on the Tropang 5G early on, going on a 52-31 tear before ending the first 24 minutes comfortably ahead by 16. A furious TNT storm in the third sliced the Meralco lead to just one and ultimately, the Tropa outsteadied the Bolts in the homestretch enroute to the 1-0 running start in the race-to-four Final Four.

“That thing should not happen when you go up by 20. That should be a step on the throats and done game. And we didn’t do that. We allowed them to come back,” rued Trillo.

“Maybe we have to be a heavy-duty team. We need to go down with humility and see that to beat this team, we have to not let go of the gas pedal. You can’t play good (in) one half. And in the third quarter, they just (overpowered Meralco). I think at that point in time, it’s anybody’s ballgame. So I think we could have done better in the third.”

The victory on the Feast of the Three Kings marked TNT’s biggest comeback win since the 2007 Fiesta Conference when it battled back from 23 down in a 95-87 victory over Alaska in Game 2 of the Finals. Coach Chot Reyes’ troops also made it six in a row against Meralco dating back to the Season 48 Commissioner’s Cup.