Series over?: Ginebra tries to finish off TNT

Series over?: Ginebra tries to finish off TNT | Daily Tribune

Cone and his men were in the same situation last year, only to get caught by the Tropang 5G’s haymakers in the next two games in a major series comeback.

This time, the Kings are making sure no repeat of the previous season will happen as they look to close out the best-of-seven series in Game 6 Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Ginebra seeks to finish off the Tropang 5G in their 7:30 p.m. clash, hoping to have enough gas left in the tank to accomplish the goal following a brutal Game 5.

The Kings had to push 38-year-old import Justin Brownlee to more than 51 minutes of action to pull off a 100-95 overtime win on Friday for a 3-2 series lead.

Cone, after the crucial victory that saw Brownlee drop 54 points to tie the most points in a finals series — last achieved 33 years ago, quickly extinguished his wards’ celebration and reminded them to focus on the next game.

“I went into the locker room and just said, ‘Hey, we’re not celebrating. You know, you can’t celebrate a game like this. As much as you would like to, you can’t celebrate a game like this,’” he said.

The 25-time champion coach knows TNT will come charging harder and desperate to drag the series to a decider on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“You just got to put it away and move forward. And, as I said, when we were, you know, the last series the previous time, you know, we’ve been here before leading, 3-2, and especially against this team and they’ve come back and beat us twice,” Cone said.

“So, you know, we’re, you know, at this point, you know, we expended so much effort, Justin expended so much effort too in this game. You’ve got to favor Talk ‘N Text coming into Game 6. We’re going to have to find a way to overcome that.”

The series’ trend has seen Ginebra take multiple leads only for TNT to level it twice.

The Tropang 5G, on the other hand, are hoping to knot the series one last time and, if given a chance, make a repeat of last year.

“We just have to work harder. It’s not impossible,” TNT guard RR Pogoy said.

“This is a race-to-four-wins series. They only have three victories so far, so there’s still a chance,” he added.

TNT coach Chot Reyes, on the other hand, pleads for better officiating.

Reyes lamented the freethrow disparity in Game 5. Ginebra went to the line 29 times and made 22, while the Tropang 5G had an 11-of-17 on the strip.

“Excellent officiating, 29-17, in the free throws, you can’t beat a strong Ginebra team like that,” Reyes said after emerging from the TNT dugout.

“If the officiating got a little better, maybe a little more parity in free throws, maybe we could have a chance.”

TNT also needs a little more offensive contribution from Calvin Oftana, who after a 31-point explosion in Game 2, averaged a measly 7.6 points per game.