NO sweep.
Barangay Ginebra made sure of that as it got back into business in the PBA Governors Cup finals behind an 85-73 win over TNT in Game 3 Friday night before another full house crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Kings took the early initiative and then turned back one mini-Tropang Giga rally after the other to score the much-needed victory.
The former champion still trailed the best-of-seven series, 2-1, but gained some measure of confidence going to Sunday’s Game 4 also at the Big Dome.
Here are the takeaways in the PBA’s first ever game on All Saints’ Day.
1.TIM CONE FINALLY DIGS DEEPER ON THE GINEBRA BENCH
After relying on just a short, six-man rotation, the Ginebra coach turned deeper into his bench and found two old warriors whose been with him for long time now.
Cone inserted team captain LA Tenorio as part of his starting five and had Maverick Ahanmisi coming off the bench. He also unveiled returning power forward Joe Devance to help error-prone Japeth Aguilar and Justine Brownlee take care of business in the frontcourt.
The two ended up doing their valuable share in the Game 3 win, with Tenorio finishing with nine points and four steals in 16 minutes of play, and Devance with two points, two assists, a rebound and, a steal in 15 minutes of action.
The two hardly saw action in the first two games of the series, although the 42-year-old Devance is just two weeks removed from a knee injury. The Fil-Am big man even finished the game in lieu of Aguilar, who was finally taken out with still three minutes remaining.
SPIN.ph heard Cone had to heed the advice of someone to extend his rotation after limiting just six players to have major minutes in Games 1 and 2.
READ: Ginebra comes back to life on 'Undas' with Game 3 win over TNT
2.ROLES WERE REVERSED
The Kings’ three-point shooting still left a lot to be desired at 31 percent (5-of-16), but improved their overall field goal shooting at 50 percent (33-of-66). That’s certainly an upgrade after being held below 40 percent shooting in the first two games of the series, including 36 percent in the Game 2 loss.
Ginebra’s defense meanwhile, clamped down the TNT shooters as the Tropang Giga ended up making just 28-of-86 shots for a measly 32.6 percent. Remember, TNT shot 50 percent from the floor in winning back-to-back games in the series.
3.RHJ LEFT TO CARRY THE BRUNT FOR TNT
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson remained the main anchor of the Tropang Giga’s campaign, but couldn’t do it solely by his lonesome as the rest of the team’s locals except for big man Poy Erram, failed to come through when the team needed it most.
With Calvin Oftana, Roger Pogoy, and Rey Nambatac struggling to make their shots, Ginebra concentrated on shutting down the 29-year-old TNT import in the pivotal fourth. The former NBA player was held to just two points in the final seven minutes to take the fight out of the Tropang Giga.
Those two points came in the waning seconds when the outcome of the game was already settled in favor of the Kings.
Incidentally, it was another48-minute, no-relief job for Hollis-Jefferson, who ended up with 24 points, 14 rebounds, seven assists, and four steals without committing a turnover.
4.NAMBATAC WAS A NO-SHOW
Averaging 12.0 points in his first two games in the finals, the TNT point guard finished with only two points on 1-of-7 shooting in the Game 3 loss.
He was held scoreless in the first three quarters and didn’t score his lone field goal until connecting on a get-away layup early in the fourth period.
The Tropang Giga needed all the offensive load they can get from the former Letran playmaker, who was acquired by the franchise in a trade with Blackwater to somehow soften the impact left by the non-return of shooting guard Mikey Williams to the team.
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