TNT triumphs in Chot Reyes' return, spoils June Mar Fajardo's party to tie PBA PH Cup Finals anew

Jayson Castro exploded off the bench for the Tropang Giga. PBA Images

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA—Coach Chot Reyes' return turned out to be a major boost for TNT as the team tied the PBA Philippine Cup Finals against San Miguel anew with a 100-87 Game 4 win on Sunday night in front of 10,569 fans at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.

The Tropang Giga played almost flawlessly on both ends of the floor against the Beermen, even setting an all-time record in terms of ball handling.

On the defensive end, TNT held SMB to just nine points in the first quarter, the least conceded to open a PBA Finals game since 2015, when the same Beermen squad was held to just eight by Alaska.

The Tropang Giga eventually led by as much as 18 and only committed three turnovers, the least ever in a PBA game.

However, Reyes excused himself from attending the post-game press conference as he had to head straight to the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay for Gilas Pilipinas practice.

Jayson Castro finished with 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting, six rebounds, four assists, and three steals off the bench for TNT, which forced a 2-2 deadlock in the best-of-seven series.

RR Pogoy added 21 points, three rebounds, two assists, and one steal.

Fresh from winning the Best Player of the Conference award, June Mar Fajardo put up monster numbers again of 20 points and 19 rebounds, coming just close to becoming the first player to post back-to-back 20-20 games in PBA history, but his victory party was spoiled with the SMB loss.

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