It is the best two words in sports, as they say, and another all-timer should be expected as TNT and Ginebra battle it out for all the marbles in Game 7 of the PBA Season 50 Commissioner’s Cup Finals later tonight in Pasay.
Tip-off is at 7:30 PM, with the long-time corporate rivals facing off in another winner-take-all affair — the best way to finish off a series that’s become an instant classic.
According to Casino Plus sportsbook, Ginebra is favored to win via a +5.5 margin with the over/under set at 193.5 as of 3:30 PM.
Wagers can be placed here: https://www.casinoplus.com.ph/home/inGame?name=basketball&title=SportBet.
Both teams traded wins in the first six games, with the Tropang 5G taking Game 6, 98-90, to send the best-of-seven affair to the distance.
However, what many would remember from that match was the duel between Chris McCullough and Justin Brownlee. Both imports scored 50-plus points each, making it a slugfest between themselves.
The former NBA winger, though, had more gas in the end and better local support. He finished with a career-high 53 points alongside 22 rebounds as he powered the strong finish with back-breaking shots from beyond both arcs.
Brownlee, on the other hand, finished with 52 points and five rebounds as he almost did it all himself after receiving hardly any help.
They became the first opposing imports to drop 50 each in the PBA Finals since Game 4 of the 1989 Reinforced Conference Finals, when Carlos Briggs had 60 while Ennis Whatley made 50 in San Miguel’s 150-136 win over Anejo Rum.
And their performances in front of 22,731 fans at the SMART Araneta Coliseum made everyone remember the statements by McCullough during the pre-Finals presser last June at the Novotel Manila Araneta City.
(C) PBA Images
“I think this is truly gonna be one of the PBA Finals that’s gonna be remembered for a long time. Great team, and we’re going up against a great player,” he said then. “This is going to be one of the ones that’s gonna be remembered.”
But aside from sterling performances, an SMC-MVP championship series wouldn’t be complete without some drama. Both head coaches, Tim Cone and Chot Reyes, have expressed their displeasure, specifically with the referees.
The Ginebra mentor was the first to air his frustration back in their Game 2 loss last June 5, calling the four-man officiating crew “terrible.”
His TNT counterpart then took his turn after Games 3 and 4, which his team split, by sarcastically grading the umpires’ work as “excellent.”
But another layer was added moments after Game 6, when Cone slammed the “favored by the refs” narrative, admitting that he’s getting tired of it.
“I coached against Ginebra for 27 years, and it’s just gotten to a point where it’s crazy. It’s referees for us, great coaching, great play for them (TNT),” he said.
Given what has transpired leading up to Game 7, it should be a memorable affair at a sold-out SM Mall of Asia Arena.
The Tropang 5G, of course, are hoping to pull off the same act they did in the Season 49 Commissioner’s Cup Finals against the Kings, when they completed the comeback from down 3-2 with a narrow escape in Game 7.
“In our board, we put ‘96 minutes’ encircled in a heart. We said let’s play the best 96 minutes of our lives — Game 6 and Game 7. And now, we’ve done the first half of that,” said Reyes, who’s eyeing his 12th league championship.
But the crowd darlings wouldn’t want history to repeat itself. Instead, they’ll look to flip the script this time around and win their first title since the 2023 Commissioner’s Cup, where they beat guest team Bay Area in seven.
“We’re gonna feel good about ourselves going into Game 7. We know we can take this, and we’re gonna go for it,” said the PBA’s winningest coach.
