WITH the PBA Commissioner’s Cup best-of-seven series tied at 2-2, TNT and Barangay Ginebra return to the battleground for the fifth time and fight for the all-important lead at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Tropang Giga and the Kings split the first four games and the winner of Sunday’s pivotal Game 5 will not only take a 3-2 lead but will also move closer to the coveted championship.

Interestingly, both TNT and Ginebra were also tied at 2-2 in their previous two PBA Governors; Cup title showdowns.

The Tropang Giga, however, took the next two games to claim the championship in six games in each occasion.

TNT coach Chot Reyes is hoping to do it again.

Needless to say, Ginebra mentor Tim Cone is looking for a different result.

Last Friday, Ginebra hammered out a convincing 95-78 victory over TNT in their Game 4 encounter at the Ynares Center.

The Kings did it even with import Justin Brownlee playing through an injured thumb on his shooting hand.

Actually, Brownlee and Jamie Malonzo combined for 47 points to lead the Gin Kings to the crucial win.

Malonzo was on fire from beyond the arc, hitting 6-of-8 three-pointers on his way to 24 points and four rebounds in 32 minutes of action.

Despite playing with a dislocated right thumb, Brownlee delivered a double-double performance with 23 points on 9-of-17 shooting, 12 rebounds, five assists, and two steals in 45 minutes of play.

Veteran Japeth Aguilar also stepped up in a big way as he added 18 points and eight rebounds.

Stephen Holt contributed 12 points and five rebounds and Scottie Thompson chipped in nine points and nine rebounds as the Kings’ asserted themselves and averted going down 1-3 in the series.
Calvin Oftana topscored for the Tropang Giga with 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, five rebounds and four assists.

RR Pogoy added 16 points, while three-time Best Import awardee Rondae Hollis-Jefferson contributed 14 points on 5-of-18 shooting, along with 12 rebounds and five assists.

Rey Nambatac, who led Tropang Giga’s Game 3 victory, chipped in 13 points, while Kelly Williams and JP Erram added nine points each.

Meanwhile, Arvin Tolentino of NorthPort claimed his first-ever Best Player of the Conference (BPC) award in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup.

Tolentino earned a total of 1,072 votes: 454 from statistic points, 564 from media votes, and 54 from player votes to win the coveted individual award presented by Pocari Sweat and ArenaPlus.

The 6-5 forward from Angono, Rizal, who was selected as the No. 10 overall pick by Barangay Ginebra San Miguel in the 2019 PBA draft, won over Calvin Oftana of TNT Tropang Giga, who finished with 777 total votes (399 statistic, 280 media, and 98 player votes), and 11-time BPC winner June Mar Fajardo of San Miguel Beer, who had 600 votes (525 statistic, 45 media, and 30 player votes).

Completing the Top five list were Robert Bolick of NLEX with 540 votes (464 statistic, 14 media, 62 player votes) and Jordan Heading of Converge FiberXers with419 votes (408 statistic, 7 media, 4 player votes).

“Mataas akong mangarap and I really want to be the best. And to be the best, ikaw yung pinaka-worthy,” said Tolentino, who cut short his family vacation in Boracay to personally receive his breakthrough BPC plum.

Sharing the limelight with Tolentino was Rondae Hollis-Jefferson of TNT Tropang Giga, who ran away with his third Best Import of the Conference award.

The scores:

Ginebra (95) – Malonzo 24, Brownlee 23, J.Aguilar 18, Holt 12, Thompson 9, Ahanmisi 7, Abarrientos 2, Cu 0, Mariano 0, Pinto 0, Rosario 0.
TNT (78) – Oftana 17, Pogoy 16, Hollis-Jefferson 14, Nambatac 13, Williams 9, Erram 9, Aurin 0, Khobuntin 0, Razon 0, Heruela 0, Ebona 0.
Quarterscores: 31-21, 53-49, 72-66, 95-78.

Game Sunday:
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
7:30 p.m.– TNT vs. Barangay Ginebra

The results:

Game 1 — TNT 95, Ginebra 89
Game 2 — Ginebra 71, TNT 70
Game 3 — TNT 87, Ginebra 85
Game 4 — Ginebra 95, TNT 78
(Series tied at 2-2)

AUTHOR PROFILE

Robert Andaya