Ginebra made TNT pay for its uncharacteristically sloppy endgame en route to the 116-102 victory and move two wins away from the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup title, Sunday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
The Kings saw their 22-point lead melt to just seven, 96-89, with less than six minutes remaining in Game 3, but none other than the Tropang 5G shot themselves in the foot as they committed costly turnovers that ruined their rally.
Calvin Oftana’s pass intended for Chris McCullough got intercepted by Justin Brownlee, before ‘CMac’ himself got whistled for a traveling violation as his decision to attack the rim after being wide open outside backfired.
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McCullough would commit another TO when he was called for the last touch on the ball that sailed out of bounds, and the momentum they all built would go down the drain as the crowd darlings capitalized on those opportunities.
RJ Abarrientos knocked down a three, then came Stephen Holt, Brownlee, and Troy Rosario with the final touches toward the 14-point triumph–the biggest margin tallied so far in this best-of-seven championship series.
Ginebra will try to build a commanding 3-1 lead in Game 4 this Wednesday at the SMART Araneta Coliseum, where the Best Player of the Conference and Best Import awarding will be taking place as well, before the 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
“A lot of good things happened to us tonight, and we’re pleased to come out with the victory,” offered head coach Tim Cone.
Brownlee top-scored for the Barangay with 41 points on 16-of-21 shooting, which he laced with seven rebounds and the same amount of assists.
Holt finished with 23 points, 15 of which he made in the opening period behind a perfect 6-for-6 clip as he led their hot 29-12 start that set the tone in their favor. He also had four rebounds, two assists, and two steals–all without a turnover.
“I know there was a lot of internet noise about him not playing well. He’s been playing great, you know,” Cone said. “If you’re just looking at Stephen strictly as a scorer, you’re not looking at the whole game of basketball.
“He’s a lot more than just being a scorer. He impacts winning in so many things that he does, even when he is not scoring a lot,” he added.
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Scottie Thompson registered a triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists in a performance that served as an icing on the cake to a historic night personally after becoming the latest member of the 5,000 points club.
Abarrientos, despite getting tough looks early, ended up with 15, including a four against McCullough to beat the shot clock for the 100-89 lead with less than six minutes left to play. He also had five rebounds and six assists.
Japeth Aguilar made 11 points and six rebounds while Rosario chipped in nine markers and four boards as these six provided all the points in the victory.
“It was the third game in five days, and we played five or six guys tonight in heavy minutes, but they reached deep, knowing that this could be a pivotal game in this series,” lauded Cone as his short rotation worked extremely well.
McCullough had 44 points and 13 rebounds against seven turnovers to lead TNT in the disappointing defeat. Roger Pogoy made 28 points, spiked by seven triples as he tried to spark the comeback until his team’s messy closeout.
Jordan Heading added 11 as he and Pogoy were the only locals who scored in double figures after Calvin Oftana got held to just two points–it came after he fired a season-high 31 points and 10 rebounds in their Game 2 win last Friday.
The Scores:
Ginebra 116 – Brownlee 41, Holt 23, Thompson 17, Abarrientos 15, J.Aguilar 11, Rosario 9, Cu 0, Gray 0, Go 0.
TNT 102 – McCullough 44, Pogoy 28, Heading 11, Ganuelas-Rosser 9, Ferrer 4, Oftana 2, Quitevis 2, Castro 2, Nambatac 0, Galinato 0, Williams 0, Khobuntin 0.
Quarterscores: 35-16, 59-42, 85-68, 116-102.
