Ginebra Gin Kings, TNT Tropang Giga battle for control of PBA Governors’ Cup Finals

Game Today
(Smart Araneta Coliseum)
5:45 p.m. — Ginebra vs TNT
*Series tied, 1-1

THE CHESS match between Barangay Ginebra coach Tim Cone and TNT counterpart Jojo Lastimosa continues.

In a stalemate after two games, Mr. Cone’s Gin Kings and Mr. Lastimosa’s Tropang Giga ready their next moves and counter-moves as they battle for control of the PBA Governors’ Cup today (April 14) at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Game 3 tiebreaker is set at 5:45 p.m. at the Smart Araneta Coliseum with the protagonists looking for more stability after a blow-hot, blow-cold — or vice versa — type of opening.

Defending champion Ginebra, outgunning their blanks-firing challengers, took Game 1, 102-90, last Easter Sunday. And in a swift reversal Wednesday, the Tropang Giga summoned both their shooting touch and defensive spunk back for a retaliatory 95-82 equalizer versus a low-scoring Ginebra side.

“They flipped the switch on us and they did everything they wanted to do and we didn’t get anything done (in Game 2). So now it’s 1-1 and we’ll see what happens in Game 3,” said Mr. Cone.

“We got to play with a little more discipline and a little more fire than we did (last time). It was actually disappointing but it’s a series and it’s not one game so we got to move on to the next one at this point.”

Mr. Cone braces for a “back-and-forth” against the team of Mr. Lastimosa, his former player and assistant coach. “We’ll see what we can do coming back,” he said.

Mr. Lastimosa’s do-it-all import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson has been spearheading the fight against the three-peat-seeking Gin Kings. In Game 2, he put the cuffs on the usually efficient Justin Brownlee (12 points on a horrible three-of-16 field goal) while flirting with a triple-double (23-19-9).

“Rondae is giving it his everything but I know there’s a lot left in his tank,” said Mr. Lastimosa.

Though primed for a possible long-drawn battle, Mr. Hollis-Jefferson is taking it one at a time.

“We may have the mindset of it will be a long series but Nick Saban, the Alabama football coach, always talks about breaking the game in increments. So next game is Game 3, we’re going to break that down, taking it quarter by quarter. That’s our focus,” he said.

Mr. Brownlee owned up to his “subpar” play and vowed to bounce back.

“I feel like I kinda let my team down as the import. I had good moments in other areas (10 rebounds, eight assists) but three-of-16, I got to be better in that field,” said the resident reinforcement, while also giving due credit to TNT and Mr. Hollis-Jefferson for their defensive schemes against him.

“We’re going to look at the video and try to figure out how to get Justin open and we’ll go from there. But we’re not worried about Justin at all. He’s had tough nights before and he’s always responded really well,” said Mr. Cone.

Meanwhile, TNT is expecting big man Kelly Williams back after getting sidelined by calf strain for most of the tournament. Williams’ return is a welcome development with frontliner Justin Chua already out for the season after sustaining an ACL tear in Game 1. — Olmin Leyba