The San Miguel Beermen tied the 2025 PBA Philippine Cup Finals with a resilient performance versus the TNT Tropang 5G in Game 2. The big win came just two days after Mo Tautuaa was called for a basket interference that might have swung the outcome of Game 1—and not in San Miguel’s favor.
One reason the Beermen bounced back so strongly was their dominance in the paint, where they scored 64 total as opposed to TNT’s 24. June Mar Fajardo obviously had something to do with that, but so did Tautuaa, whose nullified basket in Game 1 created a maelstrom that all but overshadowed a well-played opener to these PBA Finals.
It also had fans wondering how that controversy would impact Tautuaa moving forward. The answer, at least in Game 2, was not that much.
Let Tautuaa Play
It turns out, Tautuaa has moved on fairly well from that botched dunk attempt—so much so that San Miguel coach Leo Austria felt little need to talk it through with his hulking big man. In fact, he made it a point to not make that controversy a talking point between him and Tautuaa and among the Beermen in general.
“Hindi namin masyado pinag-usapan what happened dun sa dunk niya. Makikita mo naman tonight, nag-dunk uli siya…,” Austria told the press after Game 2. “That’s how we handle that kind of situation, hindi kelangan ma-pressure dahil alam naman natin ang player, ‘pag marami ka narinig, marami ka sinabi parang maraming analysis, nagiging paralysis. We just let him play.”
Tautuaa was so ready, in fact, that he warmed up immediately after Austria told him he was about to start Game 2.
“Naiintindihan ni Mo. That’s why before the start of the game, pagdating niya dito sa dugout, ako pa nagtanong sa kanya,’Mo, if it is okay, I will start you tonight.’ Sabi niya, ‘Yes, Coach’ then biglang nagbihis agad, nag-warm up. I know he will bounce back. He’s a good help to our team,” said Austria.
The former no. 1 pick was ready all right, putting up 16 points—most in the paint—and holding the fort when Fajardo sat out for most of the second frame due to foul trouble.
And, yes, he did try to dunk—on a follow-up try at the 2:16 mark of the fourth and with San Miguel ahead, 94-86. It appeared he pulled the rim again, only this time, the ball didn’t bounce into the basket.
Basket interference, averted.
