THE two squads that figured in an epic title match in the Commissioner’s Cup got off to contrasting starts in the 49th PBA Philippine Cup with the Barangay Ginebra Kings winning and the TNT Tropang 5G (formerly Tropang Giga) faltering on Wednesday night, April 23, at the Araneta Coliseum.

The Kings, who lost to the Tropang 5G in a hard-fought seven-game series in the Commissioner’s Cup, pulled off a 101-80 dumping of the Terrafirma Dyip behind the brilliant performances of Japeth Aguilar and Scottie Thompson.

Aguilar erupted for 30 points while Thompson was all over the floor, finishing with 11 points, 14 rebounds, and seven assists.

RJ Abarrientos sank three triples to add 14 points and Stephen Holt chipped in 10 markers as Ginebra’s bid to end a string of championship setbacks got off to a rousing start.

Ginebra made it to the Finals of the Governors' and Commissioner's Cups but lost on all occasions in a pair of heartbreaks that they suffered at the hands of TNT.

CJ Catapusan and Mark Nonoy tallied 14 and 13 points, respectively, as Terrafirma suffered its third loss in four games.

TNT, on the other hand, got ambushed in its first outing since its championship run in the Commissioner’s Cup, faltering to sister-team NLEX Road Warriors, 74-91.

John Bryle Bahio was NLEX’s surprise package as he put in 13 points and 12 rebounds. Another NLEX rookie, Xyrus Torres, added 13 markers while veteran Robert Bolick also had 13 points as the Road Warriors hiked their record to 2-1 (win-loss).

Javee Mocon, Enoch Valdez, and Brandon Ramirez helped NLEX’s cause by scoring 10 markers apiece.

TNT appeared out of sync with Roger Pogoy and Kelly Williams ending up as the team’s only double-digit scorers with 12 and 11, respectively.(CCM)

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