CHICAGO - Up 45-35 at the half and holding Justin Brownlee to just two points, TNT was skating toward an easy, breezy Game Five victory.
And then the mighty collapse happened.
The Tropang Giga froze like our dreadful winters here in Chicago, putting up just 21 points the rest of the way,
READ Chot Reyes, Poy Erram get into heated argument in Game Five
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson woke up this morning as a facilitator. He will sleep tonight, restlessly, as a ball hog who cranked 26 field goals, many of which were forced under duress.
And then TNT's Chot Reyes was badly outcoached by Ginebra's Tim Cone, who pulled more rabbits out of his hat than a Las Vegas magician.
GINEBRA 73. TNT 66.
And just like that, the Gin Kings are one win away from the Commissioner's Cup title.
Although RHJ has already pocketed the Best Import award this conference, Brownlee is inarguably the better player these past two games.
Despite a dangling right thumb that is only put together by a medical tape, Brownlee has ignored both the pain and discomfort, producing 41 points in Games Four and Five on a highly efficient 18-of-32 shooting from the field.
RHJ, meanwhile, only has a combined 33 points in Games Four and Five where he has missed on 32 of 44 field goal attempts.
The 26 shots RHJ hoisted on Sunday night at the Araneta Coliseum were more than the combined 25 attempts that Roger Pogoy, Poy Erram and Calvin Oftana took among them.
Not only did the Kobe wannabe's bricks dented the rim, his ball dominance stagnated the TNT offense, making it predictable and easily guardable
CHOKING GIGA.
For all the talk about TNT's firepower, the team hit only 25-of-76 field goals (32.9 percent) and just 7-of-26 from 3-point distance (26.9 percent) in Game Five.
Game Four was a similar dud for the telecommunication giant which went 30-of-74 overall and 9-of-32 from beyond the arc.
Reyes and the TNT coaching staff appeared to have yet another flare up with resident bad boy Poy Erram in the third quarter.
There wasn't any of that nonsense on the Ginebra bench which was anything but glorious, what with Maverick Ahanmisi making significant contributions (11 points) and L.A. Tenorio helping out with six precious minutes of relief play.
TNT has the talent to conquer Game Six and, possibly, a Game 7.
But the Tropang Giga can't do it with an import that turned from Mr. Hyde to Dr. Jekyll in short order. Can't do it, either, if the coaching staff runs out of answers in the welter of Ginebra's barrage.
Right now, both Tim Cone and Brownlee are the GOATs at what they do.
If TNT has something to say about that, Reyes and RHJ better show up in Game Six.
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