TNT bounced back in a big way and dealt Barangay Ginebra a 92-77 thrashing to move on the brink of retaining the PBA Governors Cup championship.
Five players finished in double figures for the Tropang Giga, punctuated by the hot shooting of Calvin Oftana and Roger Pogoy, and the surprised energy provided by good old Kelly Williams at the start of Game 5 to regain the lead in the best-of-seven finals, 3-2.
Coach Chot Reyes and his team are now just a win away from repeating and denying the Kings the shot at regaining the crown they lost to the Tropang Giga last year.
As the title series comes to its final stretch, here are some of the takeaways in Sunday night’s game played out before a crowd of 12,727 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
1.SHOULD FANS BE WORRIED ABOUT JUSTIN BROWNLEE?
The long-time Ginebra import has his own battle with cramps since he first played in the league back in 2016. But the muscle contraction on his leg appeared to have been bothering him of late that not a few felt a major injury could be hampering Brownlee’s performance in the finals.
There are those who suspect it could be a hurting hamstring for the 36-year-old Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player given that there were instances when he seemed to be favoring the back of one of his thighs.
On Sunday, Brownlee was held to his lowest total output in eight years playing in the league with eight points on 3-of-13 shooting. He had 10 rebounds and three assists in 31 minutes of play as coach Tim Cone opted to call him back to the bench during the final quarter.
He later hurriedly left the Big Dome and rode on a waiting white van assisted by the coliseum bouncers without talking to any members of the covering media – a rarity for the jolly and ever amiable import.
2.BARANGAY GINEBRA, NOW MORE THAN EVER, NEEDS TO EMBODY 'NSD'
Five of the last six teams that won Game 5 of a PBA finals that was tied at 2-2 went on to win the championship or at least 14 of the last 16 in the last nine seasons did it, according to chief statistician Fidel Mangonon III.
Percentage wise, 34 of 48 teams went on to complete the feat. Only San Miguel managed to reverse the trend twice in the last decade – first during the 2019 Philippine Cup title series against Magnolia, and then in the 2022 Philippine Cup finals against TNT. Barangay Ginebra is certainly looking to join the Beermen in that rare distinction.
3.TNT's defense back to its masterful ways
The Tropang Giga went back to their primary business that had them taking the first two games of the series – defense. They sealed off the Kings’ inside plays and let Ginebra’s platoon of guards do their thing from long range.
However, the hot-shooting Kings in Game 4 were nowhere to be found and they were held to just 24 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Maverick Ahanmisi and Stephen Holt, who punished TNT with their outside shooting in a 106-92 Game 4 win, were held to a combine 11 points including 2-of-14 from the floor, with Ahanmisi going 0-of-7 from the field. In all, the Kings had a measly 32 percent shooting.
4. 'Machine Gun Kelly' finally on target for TNT
Coach Chot Reyes was not to be outdone in terms of adjustment. The ex-national team coach inserted former MVP Kelly Williams in his starting unit in Game 5, and the veteran forward delivered by scoring the team’s first seven points and sparked the Tropang Giga’s offense.
By halftime, Williams already had 11 as TNT sat on a 56-33 lead. Cone did the same in Game 3 by putting team captain LA Tenorio as part of Ginebra’s starting backcourt together with Scottie Thompson, and the league’s acknowledged Iron Man scored seven of the team’s first 13 points on the way to an 85-73 win to avoid going down 0-3 in the title series.
The Gilas coach also unleashed Joe Devance from the bench after missing out the first two games of the finals due to a knee injury. The 42-year-old Devance gave the Kings an added body in the frontcourt as reliever to either Japeth Aguilar or Justine Brownlee. So will the two coaches still have something up on their sleeves with the finals now down to its last one or two games.
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