TNT inched closer to its ultimate goal of completing a historic grand slam.
Banged up and bruised Tropang 5G secured a third straight finals appearance after booting out Rain or Shine, 97-89, in Game 6 of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Philippine Cup semifinals Sunday evening at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Calvin Oftana came up with the decisive three-point play with under four minutes left that shattered an 80-80 deadlock that fueled a blistering 14-2 run to pull away for good and close the best-of-seven series, 4-2.
TNT will await their best-of-seven finals rival between San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra, which will dispute the last championship ticket on Wednesday.
Game 1 of the championship is set 13 July.
Jordan Heading dropped 29 points on 11-of-25 shooting to lead the Tropang 5G, who still played sans RR Pogoy (hamstring) and Kelly Williams (ankle).
Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser had 17 markers, Glenn Khobuntin submitted a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds while Kim Aurin and Oftana finished with 13 and 12 markers, respectively, for TNT.
“These guys don’t know the meaning of quit. They just keep fighting and as long as you keep fighting, you give yourself a chance,” Tropang Giga head coach Chot Reyes said in his return from a one-game suspension after accumulating five technical fouls.
Oftana’s three-point play with 3:53 left in the game triggered an avalanche capped by a heading basket for a commanding 94-82 advantage with 1:12 left.
Things got chippy in the last 18 seconds with the game already decided when Ganuelas-Rosser, Khobuntin along with Andrei Caracut and Jhonard Clarito were whistled with technical fouls for verbal altercation following a loose ball pile up.
Caelan Tiongson got 30 points for the Elasto Painters, who for the fourth straight conference failed to get past the semis.
Caracut had 15 markers while Adrian Nocum finished with 11.
The scores:
TNT (97) – Heading 29, Ganuelas-Rosser 17, Khobuntin 16, Aurin 13, Oftana 12, Heruela 5, Enciso 3, Erram 2, Varilla 0, Vosotros 0, Galinato 0
RAIN OR SHINE (89) – Tiongson 30, Caracut 15, Nocum 11, Mamuyac 9, Clarito 8, Asistio 7, Santillan 4, Malonzo 3, Datu 2, Norwood 0
Quarterscores: 28-27, 47-50, 69-70, 97-89