Games today:

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)

5:15 p.m. — TNT vs Meralco

7:30 p.m. — Ginebra vs San Miguel

With injuries starting to pile up, TNT Tropang 5G aims to finish the job when it battles Meralco in Game 5 of their Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup best-of-seven semifinal series on Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Tipoff is set at 5:15 p.m. with the Tropang 5G aim to deliver a strong finishing kick to get a longer rest before marching into the best-of-seven finals showdown against the survivor in the other semifinal battle between sister teams Barangay Ginebra and San Miguel Beer.

The Kings and the Beermen are knotted at 2-2 and the winner in their Game 5 encounter set at 7:30 p.m. will gain a huge mental edge heading into the very crucial Game 6 on Friday.

The Beermen are expected to tighten their defensive screws to stop the rampaging Kings, headed by Scottie Thompson, who dropped a historic triple-double of 35 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in their 105-91 victory in Game 4 last Sunday.

Thompson’s all-around brilliance marked the first 30-point triple-double by a local in 33 years or since then Alaska rookie and now Ginebra assistant coach Johnny Abarrientos had 30-15-14 in their 103-115 loss to Swift in the 1993 All-Filipino conference.

Ginebra coach Tim Cone knows that Game 5 will be a dogfight as the Beermen are expected to do everything to make a finals return.

“We can’t expect Scottie to go out and get 35-11-11 in the next game.” said Cone, who had seen a lot of spectacular performances over the course of his 40-year coaching career. 

“They’re going to do something. They’re going to guard him differently. They’re going to do something different.”

Cone added that if the Beermen defense go hard on Thompson, other players like RJ Abarrientos should step up and bail them out of trouble.

“Maybe that’s going to open it up for somebody else. Maybe an RJ or someone like that to step up and play a big game.”

Still, focus will be on the Tropang 5G, who are determined to deliver the knockout punch and advance to their fourth straight finals appearance, especially now that two-way star Roger Pogoy is out with a hamstring injury while playmaker Rey Nambatac is dealing with a sprained ankle and veteran Kelly Williams is having a bout with flu that kept him out of the starting unit.

“Of course, we’re going to go all out, not because it’s a closeout game but we know Meralco is going to come back really hard,” Reyes said.

“And I’ve said this since Game 1, we have no illusion this is going to be an easy series,” he added. “So we have to be ready for a huge battle in Game 5.”

Reyes said having a long series is always a battle of adjustment so they have to move on and make use of the available players in his roster.

“Ganun talaga. Hopefully, Rey heals more fully and recovers. Same thing with Roger,” said Reyes, who is expecting solid performances from Calvin Oftana, Jordan Heading, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and Poy Erram.

“But right now, our focus is really to get rest for the players.”