Ginebra, TNT duel in vital Game 5 of PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals

Game on Friday
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7:30 p.m. – Ginebra vs TNT (Finals Game 5)
*Series tied, 2-2

THE PBA Commissioner’s Cup title duel between holder TNT and challenger Barangay Ginebra has lived up to the high standard the old rivals have set in three previous confrontations.

Clutch baskets, runs and counter-runs that swing momentum, no-quit mentality and big heart no matter the score, a virtual chess match between two brilliant tacticians, two sides brimming with pride and winning attitude duking it out end-to-end.

After four matches, the Tropang 5G and the Gin Kings are standing on equal ground, making Friday’s Game 5 tiebreaker at the Smart Araneta Coliseum absolutely important in what’s now become a sprint finish, a race to two.

“As you know, in a series, the longer it gets, it now becomes a battle of attrition,” said TNT coach Chot Reyes, whose troops avoided falling to a 1-3 hole with a 106-98 equalizer on Wednesday.

Learning from their previous 102-116 loss in Game 3, where Chris McCullough and RR Pogoy did the heavy lifting offense wise, the Tropang 5G got more production from the locals led by Jordan Heading (29) and Jayson Castro (14) with Calvin Oftana firing 12 while doing defensive duties against Scottie Thompson and even RJ Abarrientos.

More so, TNT limited its turnover mark to 10 in Game 4, resulting in nine easy markers for Ginebra, after giving up a bunch last time.

“If we can hold Ginebra to below 100 and we don’t give up the turnover points, we give ourselves a chance, In Games 1 and 3, we gave up more than 20 turnover points to Ginebra and we lost both games,” noted Mr. Reyes.

The Gin Kings lost Game 4 on what’s supposed to be a celebratory moment for Mr. Abarrientos and Justin Brownlee, who were named Best Player of the Conference and Best Import, respectively, prior to tip-off.

“That’s so typical. The team that wins the awards usually loses the game,” said Ginebra counterpart Tim Cone. “The other team comes up empty, they get motivated.”

Mr. Brownlee did his part, punching in 32 and leading their fightback in the fourth, ditto Mr. Abarrientos with 21. But Mr. Cone rued the meager 24-point effort from their subs.

“We needed something from our bench and we couldn’t get anything from our bench tonight. And that really hurt,” said Mr. Cone.

“We need to be better, and I think they will be better going forward. We can’t rely on Justin that much. He’s carrying too heavy of a load. And with the way we play, the ball should be moving better. We should be getting better shots than we are. We’re just too Justin-reliant right now,” he added. — Olmin Leyba