By REYNALD MAGALLON
Like a pendulum waiting for an outside force to stop it, the title series between TNT and Barangay Ginebra has been swinging back-and-forth.
Through the first four games, the Kings were always the first to open fire before the Tropang Giga retaliate to tie the series – a trend TNT head coach Jojo Lastimosa hopes to break come Game 5 of the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup Finals at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Wednesday, April 19.
The Finals series now also boils down to a virtual best-of-three affair with the results of 5:45 p.m. collision could become the turning point of the series that has now showcased the best offensive display between the two teams.
TNT, for one, is coming off a record-breaking performance in the 116-104 Game 4 win, burying a Finals record of 21 triples. With the trend of the series so far, it’s expected that it’s Ginebra’s turn to shoot the lights out while TNT will see the law of averages catch up in Game 5.
But Lastimosa is hardly worried as according to him, in contrast to what was seen in the first four games, the team’s three-point shooting won’t be the defining factor which team will win the series
“I think even si Tim (Cone), he is worried if they’re gonna shoot well tonight and even for us because it can change in an instant. Di mo alam eh. Ganun talaga yung shooting, sometimes it’s on, sometimes it’s not,” said Lastimosa.
For Lastimosa, the first team to find a way to stop the other’s hot shooting will come out victorious.
“But if you ask me about it, as long as the defense is constant you can be okay. You live with your shots, we still have to see actually a close game. So far, it’s been medyo malayo yung agwat. I know it’s gonna boil down to defense in the next three games,” he added.
Cone also echoed the same sentiment as he explained that stopping the opposing team’s shooting – not just solely outgunning the other – is the recipe of success in this type of series.
“We hit treys too but we didn’t defend. I’m not talking about shooting. I’m talking about defending,” clarified Cone.
That being said, expected to put the clamps down on the Tropang Giga shooters are the Kings who will be leaning on reigning MVP Scottie Thompson and the athletic defenders in Jeremiah Gray and Jamie Malonzo.
Ginebra also needs to get Christian Standhardinger going and flex his BPC form after a lackluster performance last time out while Justin Brownlee must avoid getting into foul trouble after he was forced to sit out some crucial stretches of Game 4.
TNT, meanwhile, looks to sustain the balanced attack that saw at least three players drilling at least three triples in the huge Game 4 win while Rondae Hollis-Jefferson continues to anchor the assault.
