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PBA: Holllis-Jefferson humataw ng puntos sa TNT vs. Magnolia
Rico Lucero
Humataw ng 29 points si Rondae Hollis-Jefferson para dalhin ang TNT sa rurok ng panalo kontra Magnolia Hotshots ang score 84-82 sa pagpapatuloy ng PBA Season 49 Governors’ Cup, Martes ng gabi sa Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Si Hollis-Jefferson ay nakakuha din ng kanyang career-high 25 rebounds. Isa rin itong magandang bounce back effort para kay Hollis-Jefferson, na sa unang pagkakataon pagkatapos ng 22 laro ay hindi nakuha ang double-double (puntos at rebound, o puntos at assist) sa kanyang karera sa PBA sa kanilang huling laro noong Setyembre 12 kontra Meralco kung saan siya nagkaroon ng 22 puntos at siyam na assist.
Sinabi ni Hollis-Jefferson na pumasok siya sa laro at sinikap na kunin ang pinakamaraming rebounds hangga't kaya niya, dahil alam naman aniya bniya na-shorthanded ang TNT sa mga shooters nitong sina Rey Nambatac at Kim Aurin dahil sa mga pinsala.
“Seeing a lot of guys, I played against dudes like Kenneth Faried, he is the name the stands out, Jared Sullinger, those dudes are resilient on the glass. And it just came from effort, wanting to get the rebounds. Knowing that a lot of shots would be taken, with that comes a lot of misses, trying to secure the rebound, that’s just my goal,” ani Hollis-Jefferson.
Bukod sa mga rebounds, ipinagmamalaki ni Hollis-Jefferson ang late defensive effort na ipinakita niya sa mga huling sandali bago ang panalo ng TNT.
“I’m tired but that’s part of giving your all, being resilient, leaving it on the court, wanting to win, having that will. You might be tired, and need to take a play-off. But we really need a basket or we really need a stop. We just have to continue to do what we do, fine-tune our offense. This is a part of basketball. People go down and you have to have the next-up mentality. We’ve got to figure out to keep the flow of the offense and make it a little bit better. I think we will be good,” dagdag pa ni Hollis-Jefferson.
Halos dikit ang laban bago tuluyang nakuha ang TNT ang 7-1 win-loss standing sa Group A. Isang panalo lang ang magagarantiya sa pole position ng Tropang Giga sa Group A na makakalaban sa Group B ang fourth seed sa best-of-five crossover quarterfinal round.
