BARANGAY Ginebra moved on the cusp of a second straight conference finals appearance in PBA Season 49 following another blowout win over top seed Northport in their Commissioner’s Cup semifinal.
The Kings authored a runaway 127-100 win over the Batang Pier for a commanding 3-0 lead in an unexpected turn of events in their best-of-three series.
Coach Tim Cone and the Kings previously reached the championship round of the season-opening Governors Cup, but lost in six games to the TNT Tropang Giga.
READ Arvin says NorthPort going 0-3 down to Ginebra a 'surprise' to me
The other half of the mid-season Final Four however, took a bit of a twist as Rain or Shine finally broke through TNT, 103-98.
The Elasto Painters survived a late charge by TNT import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to climb back in their own best-of-seven duel, 2-1, as the Tropang Giga played without injured leader Jayson Castro.
Here are some of the takeaways in the pair of Game 3s played at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday night.
1. HOW TNT MOVES ON FROM ERRAM-KHOBUNTIN INCIDENT – both players of course, were quick to bury the hatchet following the surprising heated exchange of words in the TNT bench with just 18 seconds left before halftime of Game 3. Erram and Khobuntin are also known to share a deep bond as both speak the same Visayan dialect. But in this age of social media, expect the proliferation of screen shots, memes, and repeated replays of the video incident which psychologically could have a huge effect on the team especially if it fails to handle things the proper way. The sorry incident was actually the least TNT needs at this point of the semifinals series especially after losing team leader Jayson Castro to injury.
2. WILL SEMIS STRUGGLE DENT ARVIN’S BPC BID – going down 0-3 in the semis and playing just a mere shadow of the Northport team that finished No. 1 in the eliminations obviously leave a bad taste in the mouth for Arvin Tolentino’s bid to win a first-ever Best Player of the Conference award. The favorite to win the conference’s highest individual award after the Batang Pier advanced to the semis, Tolentino was suddenly reduced from best to decent player, averaging just 11.6 points in the semis or almost half of his scoring output during the eliminations and quarterfinals at 23.2 points. He remains the top candidate for the award as TNT’s Calvin Oftana, who’s expected to give Tolentino a run for his money, also fell in the statistical race after a similar struggle in the semis. But winning the award with the way the Batang Pier performed in their first semis stint in six years certainly raises a lot of question.
3. JAMIE MALONZO WILL BE HUGE IF GINEBRA ADVANCES - the fit-again power forward is regaining his form in the semifinals and had his best outing in Game 3 since coming back from his year-long calf injury and surgery. He finished with 25 points, grabbed eight rebounds and was 7-of-11 from the field including 4-of-5 from three-point range. He owned the game's highlight reel with a two-handed slam off a lob pass by RJ Abarrientos. Malonzo was deeply missed by the Kings in their title showdown with TNT during the Governors' Cup. Expect him to be a major force for the team should it make back to the finals again.
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