BARANGAY Ginebra was simply outplayed by TNT in Game 4 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Finals on Wednesday night.
Tim Cone offered no excuses in the 106-98 loss before a crowd of 16,823 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, saying the Kings lost the game in the second half when the Tropang 5G outscored them, 56-45.
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“They got us beat up there in the second half,” admitted the Ginebra mentor. “They out-physicalled us in the second half.”
Everything was going right for Ginebra in the opening half as it led, 53-50. Best Import awardee Justin Brownlee and Best Player of the Conference RJ Abarrientos already had 15 and 17 points, respectively, by then.
But the two eventually slowed down. And when Cone was looking for Ginebra’s bench to deliver, he failed to get what he was looking for.
“It just looked like were real tired. It was a night when we needed something from our bench, and we couldn’t get anything, and that really hurts,” he said.
Gineba bench fires blanks
Stephen Holt, who had 23 in the 116-102 win the previous game, was held to just five points, while Jeremiah Gray, Ralph Cu, and Isaac Go were a combined five points.
After trailing by as many as 18 in the fourth quarter, the Kings cut the deficit to 104-98 in the final 30 seconds, but two free throws by Calvin Oftana clinched the win and the 2-2 series for TNT.
“We wanted to try to come back here and do something special today and get that 3-1 lead. But it’s really, really hard to do and were not just able to do it,” Cone acknowledged.
“They out-energized us, they out-physicalled us. Frankly they just outplayed us in the second half. So now it’s a best of three.”
Game 5 of the series is set Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
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