BARANGAY Ginebra rode the hot hands of Stephen Holt to take a 116-102 win over TNT in Game 3 and reclaim the lead in the PBA 50th Season Commissioner’s Cup Finals on Sunday before a massive crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena.
After scoring a grand total of one point in the first two games of the best-of-seven title series, Holt made his first six shots in Game 3 to set the tone for a scorching start that saw the Gin Kings post as much as a 22-point lead.
READ Game 3 of Ginebra-TNT finals sets season-best attendance at MOA
The Gin Kings turned back one TNT rally after another from there to grab a 2-1 lead before a season-high 18,607 fans at the Mall of Asia Arena heading into a much-needed two- day break for the longtime rivals.
Game 4 will be on Wednesday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
Barangay Ginebra also won by limiting Calvin Oftana to only two points after the TNT star scoried a personal season-high 31 points last Friday.
Justin Brownlee was in his usual best, contributing 41 points on a 16-of-21 clip, seven rebounds, seven assists, and three steals while Scottie Thompson completed a triple double of 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists while crashing the 5,000 points club.
But the story of Game 3 was the resurgence of Holt, who made two threes and a four during that key stretch where he went perfect on his first six shots on his way to scoring 23 points on 5-of-8 shooting from three-point range.
The Gins were already ahead, 43-28, after Holt’s final three during that hot stretch, and later at 57-35, the biggest of the match.
“I don’t think in a finals game, I don’t think everybody realizes how difficult it is to get an early lead and keep that lead all the way through the game. It’s really hard to do in a finals game,” said Ginebra coach Tim Cone.
“I got to tip my cap to our players. Stephen got us going early, and then I thought RJ (Abarrientos) really orchestrated well tonight, did a tremendous job orchestrating the game,” Cone added.
Ginebra’s win spoiled the effort of Chris McCullough, who had a conference-high 44 points while also hauling down 13 rebounds.
RR Pogoy also kept TNT afloat with his seven threes, including one that chopped down the deficit to 94-86. But Ginebra answered with RJ Abarrientos knocking down a desperate four-point shot at the end of the shotclock for a 100-89 lead.
The scores:
Barangay Ginebra 116 – Brownlee 41, Holt 23, Thompson 17, Abarrientos 15, J. Aguilar 11, Rosario 9, Cu 0, Gray 0, Go 0.
TNT 102 – McCullough 44, Pogoy 28, Heading 11, Ganuelas-Rosser 9, Ferrer 4, Castro 2, Oftana 2, Quitevis 2, Nambatac 0, Galinato 0, Williams 0, Khobuntin 0.
Quarters: 35-16; 59-42; 85-68; 116-102.
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