BARANGAY Ginebra and TNT slug it out one last time when they clash in a no-tomorrow Game 7 for the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup championship before an expected full house crowd on Wednesday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
The Tropang 5G managed to force the winner-take-all affair following their 98-90 victory in Game 6 last Sunday witnessed by 22,731 screaming fans, mostly cheering for Ginebra.
That game saw American import Chris McCullough deliver a new career-high 53 points, including 16 in the final frame that allowed TNT to break away from a tight contest.
TNT hopes to build on that, with or without injured veterans Calvin Oftana and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser when the team collides with Ginebra at 7:30 p.m.
The Tropang 5G, who are bidding to defend their crown, will certainly need locals like Jordan Heading, Rey Nambatac, Roger Pogoy, Kelly Williams, and the rest of the bench to step up.
“In our board, we put there ‘96 minutes’ encircled in a heart,” said TNT coach Chot Reyes. “We said let’s play the best 96 minutes of our lives — Game 6 and Game 7. And now, we’ve done the first half of that.”
Ginebra will again be led by Justin Brownlee, who on Game 4, was awarded his fourth Best Import plum.
The Gilas naturalized player delivered his second straight 50-point effort after finishing with 52 points in the loss in Game 6.
But for the Gin Kings to deny the Tropang 5G a successful title-retention, and instead, win their first PBA crown in three years, they will need RJ Abarrientos and Scottie Thompson to regain their old form.
Abarrientos, the Best Player of the Conference, scored just six points, while Thompson was held to three as the Ginebra duo combined for an abysmal 2-of-18 shooting from the field.
Of course, Ginebra still needs to dig deep, and hopefully get solid contributions from Troy Rosario, Japeth Aguilar, Nard Pinto and Ralph Cu.
Ginebra is battling to change history.
For one, the Gin Kings blew a 3-2 series lead against the same Tropang 5G, who came charging back by winning Games 6 and 7 to annex the Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup crown.
Now, coach Tim Cone’s charges hope to rewrite history with a victory and finally, put an emphatic finish to the series.
