TNT Tropang Giga head coach Chot Reyes knows that they have to work doubly hard now that Barangay Ginebra has climbed out of a 0-2 hole in their Philippine Basketball Association Governors’ Cup best-of-seven finals series.
Reyes admitted that the pressure is now on them after they suffered a 92-106 loss in Game 4 last Sunday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
With the series now knotted at two-game apiece, the Tropang Giga must win Game 5 on Wednesday to gain momentum heading into Game 6 on Friday.
From there, anything can happen.
“We’re now back at 0-0 and it’s now best-of-three,” Reyes said.
“They have the momentum but it’s the same thing with us. We had the momentum after two games and it had now shifted.”
“That’s the finals. That’s basketball. That’s our sport. Seven-game series between two very good teams, momentum can really shift.”
TNT took an early 2-0 series lead following a 104-88 win in Game 1 last 27 October at the Ynares Center in Antipolo City and a 96-84 victory in Game 2 at the Big Dome last Wednesday.
But Ginebra stormed back, taking Game 3 with an 85-73 win last Friday also at Araneta before clinching Game 4 at the same venue last Sunday.
Despite the series being reduced to a best-of-three, Reyes is still optimistic about the Tropang Giga’s chances.
“If you ask me at the start of the series if it’s okay to be two-all at the start of the series, I’ll say that I’ll take it,” Reyes said.
“They now have the momentum. Our job now is to find a way to stop it.”
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, who was hailed as the Best Import of the Conference hours before Game 4, admitted they could have done better and will now focus for Game 5 on Wednesday.
“Sometimes we just made mental mistakes, and we couldn’t cut the lead in some situations. And that’s on our part. We got to go back to the drawing board, look at some things, and make some adjustments,” Hollis-Jefferson said after getting a near double-double of 28 points and nine rebounds.