Taking the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup finals series opener wasn’t easy for Barangay Ginebra.
It took a lot of grit and never-say-die spirit from the Kings to outlast defending champion TNT in a tightly contested race to the finish.
Drawing the first blood in the best-of-seven series needed two clutch four-pointers from RJ Abarrientos and a whole lot of heart and determination from Justin Brownlee to bank in the game-winning jumper to conclude another championship game epic.
Ginebra’s 102-100 win in front of a roaring crowd last Wednesday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum was a testament to the crowd-darling franchise’s no-surrender attitude and winning culture.
“I think the best thing for our team is, even though we’re in the down part of our momentum, even if we’re down as a team, we try to stay composed. We continue to communicate as a team,” Abarrientos said following a good start in the rematch of last year’s edition.
“We’re making sure that everyone, from point guard to center, knows our game plan.”
The Kings have faced a lot of adversity in the mid-season import-laden tournament. Hurdling another tough match felt like another normal day at the office.
Game 1 was challenging but Ginebra came out swinging and delivered the knockout blow just like in training.
Looking back, Abarrientos credited the difficult path the Kings went through in the semifinals for preparing them for harder battles on the biggest stage.
“I also want to add that the Rain or Shine series helped us a lot. It was a big help for us,” the sophomore said of the six-game Final Four.
The Kings encountered a lot of physicality, psychological warfare and battle of attrition against a young and athletic Elasto Painters squad handled by fiery mentor Yeng Guiao.
It was a tight best-of-seven series that was tied after four meetings before Ginebra won back-to-back games for a return to the finals after three conferences.
The series was so intense that it even spilled out to the sidelines with Kings governor Alfrancis Chua engaging Guiao in an exchange of heated words.
“The bumping, the physicality, everything was mental. Rain or Shine really prepared us. So that’s probably the best thing for us that we used in Game 1 against Talk ‘N Text,” Abarrientos added.
In Game 1, Ginebra started strong and led by as many as 18, only to get into trouble in the final period as TNT made a rousing run.
The Tropang 5G even went up, 95-90, with over three minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Abarrientos answered with consecutive four-pointers in an 8-2 Ginebra counter for a 100-97 lead with 20 seconds left.
TNT knotted the count on a RR Pogoy trey before Kings resident import Justin Brownlee hit the game-winner with 0.6 seconds.
It was a morale-boosting win but head coach Tim Cone knows winning Game 1 is not an assurance of winning the series.
“We lost Game 1 the last series against Rain or Shine and ended up winning the series in six games. That just goes to show you how little game one means in terms of the big picture,” the 25-time champion coach said.
Cone emphasized keeping their heads in the game at all times and sticking to their game plan.
“We got to figure everybody out a little better,” he added.
