TNT shoots for the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup finals and finish off two-time defending champion Barangay Ginebra on Friday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
The Tropang Giga take on the Gin Kings at 5:45 p.m. as they gun for a third straight win in this finals series at the Big Dome.
See Brownlee out of hospital, but fitness a question mark ahead of Game 6
For the first time in the finals series, a team won back-to-back games with TNT beating Ginebra, 104-95, last Wednesday to grab a 3-2 advantage.
TNT is now aiming for its ninth PBA title and its first Governors' Cup crown at the expense of Ginebra, which won four of the last five championships in the conference.
TNT coach Jojo Lastimosa, however, said beating Ginebra will be a challenge for his team, knowing what his counterpart Tim Cone is capable of doing.
“I’ve been with Tim around so much for so long that I think that I know him really well and his coaching style. But he has secrets that I don’t know. Last time I was with him was in 2011. Medyo matagal na. Maybe he has picked up plays here and there,” said Lastimosa.
“It will be an accomplishment. It will be an honor if I beat him in the series. But it’s a long series. A lot can still happen. Close out games are really, really hard,” said Lastimosa.
A big question mark for Game Six is the status of Justin Brownlee, who suffered from food poisoning and left Game Five prematurely.
Brownlee has already been discharged from the hospital but his fitness for the match is still unknown.
Cone said Ginebra definitely needs Brownlee to enhance Ginebra’s chances of winning Game Six.
“We made some turnovers down the stretch. We couldn’t rebound with Justin not there. That’s the story of the game… Now it’s twice to beat. We are going to go out. Hopefully, Justin would be better after being in the hospital,” said Cone.
TNT import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is determined to close the finals series in his quest to win his first-ever professional title.
“It’s all about taking that step to put your mind in advance mode. They might adjust to this. They might do this. This is working, they might stay to that. Thinking about those little things. And at the end of the day, to execute offensively and defensively,” said Hollis-Jefferson.
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