BARANGAY Ginebra shoots for a commanding 3-1 lead when it battles Talk ’N Text (TNT) in Game 4 of their PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven championship series on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Gin Kings are coming off a 116-102 shellacking of the Tropang 5G on Sunday to grab a 2-1 series advantage.
For coach Tim Cone, however, a series lead won’t mean anything at this point, more so if you are up against a TNT that is going all out to defend its title.
“In a finals game, I don’t think everybody realizes how difficult it is to get the early lead and keep that lead all the way through the game,” said Cone, the PBA’s all-time winningest coach.
Nonetheless, the Gin Kings are carrying some momentum in the 7:30 p.m. game.
Cone admitted that fatigue could be slowly catching up, given the short turnaround for Ginebra and even TNT since both squads were coming off grueling semifinal series against separate opponents just a little over a week ago.
“It’s hard to do in a finals game, so I got to tip my cap to our players. It was the third game in five days, and we played five or six guys tonight (Sunday night) in heavy minutes, but they reached deep, knowing that this could be pivotal game in this series,” said Cone.
Stephen Holt stepped up big time with 23 points, leading Ginebra’s jackrabbit start in Game 3, where the league’s popular squad built a 35-16 lead in the opening quarter.
Since posting that margin, the Gin Kings were never seriously threatened as Justin Brownlee and Scottie Thompson alternated in delivering clutch performances on the way to 14-point win.
An added motivation for Ginebra is the fact that it’s been three years since the franchise won its last PBA title, courtesy of its Commissioner’s Cup championship against foreign squad Bay Area Dragons in an epic seven-game title series.
TNT cannot afford to lose this one or the Tropa gets buried in 1-3 hole, something that is hard to overcome.
Chris McCullough delivered big in Game 3 with 44 points, while Roger Pogoy had 28.
They both need to sustain their form and get ample contribution from Calvin Oftana, who should go back into scoring grove if the Tropang 5G are to pull through.
The former San Beda standout scored just two points on a poor 1-of-8 shooting in Game 3. But the Gilas Pilipinas mainstay ought to bounce back strongly.
Other TNT players who will have to step up the ante of their game include Rey Nambatac, Jordan Heading and veterans Jayson Castro as well as Kelly Williams.
Meanwhile, Browlee and sophomore guard RJ Abarrientos are heavily favored to respectively win the Best Import and Best Player of the Conference awards in a short awarding ceremony prior to the start of Game 4.
