(CNN Philippines) — On a night where ace guard Jayson Castro struggled to find his groove, the Tropang Texters relied on the other cards from their deck.
Ranidel de Ocampo and import Ivan Johnson steered Talk ‘N Text to a 99-92 victory over the Rain or Shine Elasto Painters in Game 1 of their Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Commissioner’s Cup finals at the Mall of Asia Arena Wednesday (April 15).
De Ocampo and Johnson finished with 24 and 23 points, respectively, while Castro had a paltry output of 14 points on a putrid 5-of-15 shooting from the field.
Castro, though, uncorked a dagger of a triple with 1:26 to go to push Talk ‘N Text’s lead back to double digits, 96-86.
De Ocampo followed it up with an and-one play and a pair of free throws to seal the victory.
Talk ‘N Text took a 1-0 upperhand in the best-of-seven series, but coach Jong Uichico wasn’t contented with how the Texters fared against the sluggish Elasto Painters.
“Yes we won, and we’re happy. But we’re not satisfied,” Uichico told sports scribes after the contest.
Rain or Shine import Wayne Chism finished with a game-high 34 points but hardly made an impact especially in the fourth quarter.
Chism dropped 14 points in the third period to keep the Elasto Painters’ heads above water, but Talk ‘N Text foiled their repeated rallies in the fourth period.
Paul Lee added 13 for Rain or Shine.
