"He just has this will," related Llamados coach Jorge Gallent. "He wants to win this series so we can defend our trophy."

The reigning MVP’s teammates are all too willing to follow Yap’s cue, spicing up what should be another gripping showdown between Derby Ace and TNT today in Game 3 of their PBA Philippine Cup semis duel.

Yap redeemed himself from an atrocious 2-of-12 field shooting by making a free throw and pulling off an interception in the dying seconds, enabling the Llamados to escape with an 88-87 win over the Tropang Texters last Wednesday and tie the race-to-four series at 1-1.

"Hindi man ako umi-score, at least makatulong man lang sa depensa," said Yap, who came off the bench and logged 31 minutes despite the illness that kept him awake at nights since Monday and prevented him from practicing on the eve of the match.

"Pasalamat kami sa depensa ni James, buti na lang na-force niya iyung turnover," said playmaker Roger Yap, who missed a 91-98 Game 1 loss due to a sore foot.

"For the first time, nag-defense din si James," jokingly added the "other" Yap.

It was a bitter loss for TNT, which grittily fought back from a 37-52 third quarter deficit and an 81-87 count in the last 2:17. The Texters even had the chance to steal the game after Kelly Williams’ alley-oop off a picture-perfect inbound pass by Ranidel de Ocampo put them within one and Peter June Simon missed a shotclock-beating triple, still 13 ticks left.

Larry Fonacier grabbed the defensive rebound but his lead pass to Ryan Reyes was too strong it nearly went out of bounds. Reyes managed to recover the ball and, unaware coach Chot Reyes, his staff and other TNT players were frantically calling for a timeout on the far side, passed off to the cutting Jimmy Alapag.

The Game 1 hero drove hard to the lane, but instead of going for the shot opted to pass back to Reyes, a move anticipated by Yap, who swiped the ball with his left hand.

His team’s failure to take an imposing 2-0 series lead, is something coach Reyes could not forgive a day after the game. "We need to take our heads out of our rear ends and put them back on our shoulders where they belong," he stated.

The likes of Rico Maierhofer and Marc Pingris also playing and dishing out significant contributions, despite irritated eyes on the former and a sprained foot on the latter, also helped prop the team up as did KG Canaleta coming up with 13 points and six boards as James’ sub on the starting five.

Yet it was undeniable James’ gesture of playing on despite repeated shortness of breath and lack of stamina that stoked the Llamados most and endeared him more to his teammates.

"Sobrang ina-appreciate namin ang effort ni James, na kahit may sakit naglaro pa rin siya… para sa team," said Peter June Simon, who scored a game-high 28 points.

Simon taking the lead in scoring is not by accident. "Palagi ko siyang sinasabihan para dalawa kami, para di nila alam kung sino babantayan sa aming dalawa. At least congrats sa kanya," said James.

Noli Cortez, Business Malaya Insight