SMART CLARK GIGA CITY — The first two games of the 2020 PBA Philippine Cup Finals saw Ginebra come from behind and steal the thunder of a team as explosive as TNT.
It looked like it was about to happen again in Game Three last Friday, when the Gin Kings fought back from 15 down in the third. But the flagship MVP franchise had an antidote and went on to obliterate them by 21 points.
From that bitter loss, the Barangay realized that they could not — and should not — fall behind the Tropa anymore. And they brought that lesson into Game Four of the best-of-seven series, Sunday night.
“Against Talk N Text, we cannot afford to be down,” said LA Tenorio.
“Nung first two games we recovered, pero hindi na naman pwedeng gawin ulit ‘yun this game. So that’s our mindset going to this game.”
Ginebra showed that it learned its lesson very well.
From being the one facing huge deficits, it turned things around this time. The Gin Kings seized control of the match late in the second frame, eventually leading by as many as 18, 82-64, early in the fourth.
TNT, however, gave them a dose of their own medicine, fighting back and chopping the gap to just three behind Roger Pogoy. But Tenorio, calm and collected, was there to stop the opposition on its tracks.
He engaged in a shootout with the fourth-year gunner out of FEU. Then he had the last laugh when he spearheaded a 7-0 run to close out the game for a 98-88 victory — and the 3-1 lead in the race-to-four series.
Tenorio finished with 22 points on 57-percent shooting, going 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. He also had six assists, three steals, and two rebounds, easily his best game in the titular battle.
For the 36-year-old, his squad simply thought of and played their own game, not really thinking much about what their foes were doing.
“To be honest, it was really surprising for us to be up 2-0 against a powerhouse Talk N Text team. Today’s game, we really focused on our game, and our game plan,” he said.
“Parang hindi na namin iniintindi kung anong gagawin nila sa’min.”
Ginebra now has the chance to clinch the Philippine Cup crown in Game Five on Wednesday. Still, Tenorio doesn’t want to look too far ahead.
“Closing a series is the hardest,” said the 14-year veteran. “I’ve been in this kind of situation already sa career ko. Alam ko na maraming teams ang nakakabalik sa 3-1, especially a powerhouse team like Talk N Text.
“Plus, we have two days of break — both teams have two days to rest their bodies and to adjust. So it’s gonna be really hard,” the five-time PBA champion continued.
“But of course, we don’t want to give them the chance to win next game kasi it’s gonna be really hard ‘pag nakabalik sila sa series na ‘to.”
