TNT marched to the finals of the PBA Governors Cup by making short work of Rain or Shine, and will now await the winner of the Barangay Ginebra-San Miguel Beer semifinals series.
The Tropang Giga went on game-changing run in the second quarter for a 113-95 win over the Elasto Painters in Game 5 and closed out their own best-of-seven series at 4-1.
The Kings on the other hand, moved closer of making it back to the finals by blowing past the Beermen, 121-92, to take a 3-2 series lead.
TNT will now bring out the pop corn, relax, and enjoy the show between Ginebra and San Miguel which plays Sunday for Game 6 of their series at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Here are the takeaways in the pair of Game 5 matches at the Ynares Center in Antipolo.
1.GINEBRA LOCALS RESPONDED
After Justine Brownlee’s one-man job in the Game 4 loss, the Kings locals answered the call and took the baton from their resident import to wage an all-out battle against the Beermen.
Rookie RJ Abarrientos and Scottie Thompson led the Ginebra assault by combining for 50 points, while Maverick Ahanmisi and Japeth Aguilar also did their share in completing the most lopsided outcome so far in their semis series. And Brownlee? The Gilas Pilipinas naturalized player just played it easy and put on an all-around showing of 18 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists.
2.SMB LACKED BENCH SUPPORT
The discrepancy in numbers was obvious. Ginebra got 44 points from its bench compared to the 19 of San Miguel.
Terrence Romeo, the hero in the Beermen’s overtime win in Game 2 with 26 points, was held to a 1-of-7 shooting for two points, while Jericho Cruz and Don Trollano, who played pivotal roles in the Beermen’s back-to-back finals appearances in Season 48, were a combined 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting.
Worse, Cruz even exited early in the fourth quarter after suffering a bad sprain. The San Miguel’s starting quartet of EJ Anosike, June Mar Fajardo, Marcio Lassiter, and CJ Perez carried most of the load for the embattled Beermen.
3.EXTRA REST TIME FOR TNT
By taking care of business in their own semifinals series against the Elasto Painters, the Tropang Giga earned an added time for rest and recovery before heading to the best-of-seven finals.
While the respite could break the momentum gained by the team in the Final Four, coach Chot Reyes said the extra dayoff nonetheless could be a time for the players to rest their weary bodies and help veteran players such as Jayson Castro, Kelly Williams, and even Best Import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson to heal and repair following a grueling series against Rain or Shine.
4.ELASTO PAINTERS SHOOTERS FIRE BLANKS
Coach Yeng Guiao was the first to acknowledge Rain or Shine’s failure to connect from the outside led to its downfall against TNT. The Elasto Painters shot 27 percent from long range (9-of-33), with veteran Gabe Norwoord again emerging as the team’s best three point shooter for the second straight game.
The veteran coach said the failure of the team’s gunners to make their shots failed to declog the middle for Rain or Shine, resulting in the Tropang Giga containing import Aaron Fuller to do his thing in the frontcourt.
Incidentally, TNT’s three-point shooting was even better against Rain or Shine as it made as it made 14-of-27 for 15 percent behind the combined output of 9-of-15 from the trio of Roger Pogoy, Kim Aurin, and Calvin Oftana.
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