NEVER again.
Having been on the short end of a game-winning four point shot before, TNT doesn’t want to go through the same experience again much less in a PBA finals and against no less than Barangay Ginebra.
It’s the rationale behind coach Chot Reyes’ instructions to keep fouling Barangay Ginebra in every possession down the homestretch of Game 6 of the Commissioner’s Cup title series which the Tropang Giga won, 87-83.
READ: TNT forces winner-take-all Game 7 after surviving Ginebra rally
“This is the number one 4-point shooting (team) in the league. Ang daming titira ng four points diyan,” said Reyes in the post-game presser rattling off the names of Justin Brownlee, Stephen Holt, and rookie RJ Abarrientos.
“So we didn’t want to give them that opportunity anymore. We just played the percentages with the fouling.”
TNT once lost to Converge in the season-opener Governors’ Cup after FiberXers’ import Scotty Hopson nailed the game-winner from beyond 27-feet to score a 96-95 thriller last August.
Obviously, the heartbreaker remained instill in the minds of the Tropang Giga that they began fouling the Kings in the final 21 seconds while holding an 83-79 lead.
The coaching gamble appeared to have worked as Ginebra went 1-of-4 from the foul line in the two time the Kings went to the free throw line, including two by Maverick Ahanmisi with five seconds to go in the tensed ballgame played out before a huge crowd of 17,654 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Ahanmisi actually intentionally missed his second foul shot after misfiring on the first attempt, the offensive rebound eventually secured by the Kings.
Scottie Thompson did attempt from the four-point line in Ginebra’s final offensive play, but missed on the possible game-tying basket.
The TNT win forged the best-of-seven series at 3-3, with the winner-take-all Game 7 set Friday also at the Big Dome.
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