MANILA, Philippines – Knotted once again in their best-of-seven series, Barangay Ginebra and TNT slug it out for a pivotal 3-2 lead in Game 5 of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup finals at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, March 23.
Momentum is now on the side of the Gin Kings as they are coming off a 95-78 Game 4 blowout of the Tropang Giga on Friday, March 21, to avoid falling to a dangerous 1-3 hole, leveling the series at 2-2.
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Second quarter
- TNT 45-35: Kim Aurin with the drive
- TNT 43-35: Calvin Oftana layup
- TNT 41-35: Justin Brownlee with his first points of the game
- TNT 41-33: Kim Aurin scores
- TNT 39-33: Japeth Aguilar 1/2 at the line
- TNT 39-32: Rey Nambatac again, this time from two-point range
- TNT 37-32: Rey Nambatac counters with his own trey
- TNT 34-32: Maverick Ahanmisi three
- TNT 34-29: Poy Erram with the turnaround jumper
- TNT 32-29: Poy Erram hits from near the free throw line
- TNT 30-29: Jamie Malonzo finally gets one to go
- TNT 30-27: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson banks it in
- TNT 28-27: Maverick Ahanmisi with another three-pointer
- TNT 28-24: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson jumper
- TNT 26-24: Scottie Thompson puts it back off a Jamie Malonzo miss
- TNT 26-22: Scottie Thompson from deep
- TNT 26-19: Rey Nambatac makes both free throws
- TNT 24-19: RJ Abarrientos flips it in
First quarter
- END OF 1Q: TNT rains 5 three-pointers in the opening quarter to mount a 24-17 lead.
- TNT 24-17: Maverick Ahanmisi beats the shot clock with a triple
- TNT 24-14: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson jump shot is good
- TNT 22-14: Troy Rosario with another free throw split
- TNT 22-13: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson dunk
- TNT 20-13: Calvin Oftana knocks down his second three
- TNT 17-13: Stephen Holt and-one
- TNT 17-10: Rey Nambatac drains the trey
- TNT 14-10: Troy Rosario splits his free throws
- TNT 14-9: Rey Nambatac scores
- TNT 12-9: Back-to-back jump shots for Japeth Aguilar
- TNT 12-7: Japeth Aguilar jumper
- TNT 12-5: Calvin Oftana steps back for the triple
- TNT 9-5: Roger Pogoy with another long bomb
- TNT 6-5: Japeth Aguilar gets his shot to go
- TNT 6-3: Scottie Thompson answers from deep
- TNT 6-0: Roger Pogoy for three
- TNT 3-0: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson opens the game with a three-point play
Starters
- GINEBRA: Justin Brownlee, Scottie Thompson, Japeth Aguilar, Troy Rosario, Stephen Holt
- TNT: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Calvin Oftana, Roger Pogoy, Poy Erram, Brian Heruela
Preview
Despite playing with a dislocated right thumb, Ginebra super import Justin Brownlee showed no signs of weakness as he posted his usual all-around numbers of 23 points on 9-of-17 field goal clip, 12 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks.
The Gin Kings also got a huge lift from Jamie Malonzo as the Gilas Pilipinas swingman shot the lights out with a game-high 24 points on a red-hot 6-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.
As Ginebra looks to put an end to the trend of alternating wins in the series, look for the Gin Kings to lean on Brownlee anew as they also try to put the clamps on Best Import Rondae Hollis-Jefferson for the second straight outing.
In Game 4, Hollis-Jefferson was held to a series-low 14 points on another lowly 5-of-18 shooting by the Gin Kings’ stingy defense.
Overall, Hollis-Jefferson has been shooting only 46% from the field, including a dismal 1-of-15 clip (6.6%) from deep for TNT in the first four games of the series.
Game time is 7:30 pm. – Rappler.com