BARANGAY Ginebra goes for a commanding lead in the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup finals when it takes on TNT on Sunday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The Gin Kings aim for a 3-1 series advantage in their 6 p.m. tussle at the Big Dome after a crucial win last Friday.
See Minutes restriction to continue for Ginebra big man Japeth Aguilar
Ginebra defeated TNT, 117-103, in Game Three to regain the upper hand in the best-of-seven finals series after nailing 18 threes in the contest.
It has been a prevailing trend in the series where the team with the most threes win, and Ginebra will look to continue it.
“It’s really hard in a series and in the finals especially,” said Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone on winning back-to-back games in a finals.
“Semifinals, maybe a little easier. Quarterfinals, obviously even easier because the teams you are playing are not quite strong as you play in the finals. They are in the finals for a reason. So it’s really hard to get back-to-back against a really good team,” said Cone.
Cone expects that TNT will make adjustments that can surprise just like what they did in Game Two where TNT won to even the series.
“Jojo has been doing the right things, saying all the right things. They make some real good adjustments in Game Two that caught us off-guard. So we have to re-adjust. They are going to come in Game Four and do the same thing. You can’t rest in a series like this,” said Cone.
Aside from Justin Brownlee, who had 29 points last Friday, Stanley Pringle was also the star of Game Three where he had 22 points after a perfect 6-of-6 from threes.
“He had a big game,” Ginebra’s Jamie Malonzo said of Pringle. “It’s fun playing with someone who doesn’t miss. That’s for sure.”
Malonzo also played a key factor in the win where he had 27 points and 10 rebounds.
“I think I only had five points in the first half. I always tell myself just to have a big second half. That’s the goal,” said Malonzo.
TNT coach Jojo Lastimosa said the hot shooting of Ginebra where it shot 56 percent from threes got his team to a big hole.
Worse, Calvin Oftana played a poor game for the first time in this finals where he only had three points after averaging 15 points in the first two games.
“He needs to bounce back,” said Lastimosa.
The finals also resumes on the court after Poy Erram called out to league shortly after Game Three to take action after he was heckled by a fan that he took offense because it was related to his family.
A video surfaced online confirmed Erram’s statements with the fan saying something about the TNT big man’s mother.
PBA deputy commissioner Eric Castro said he will try to speak to Erram before Game Four to hear his concerns.
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