MANILA, Philippines – TNT completed its title defense in the PBA Governors’ Cup after finishing off Barangay Ginebra in Game 6 of the finals with a 95-85 comeback win at the Araneta Coliseum on Friday, November 8.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson put the Tropang Giga on his back with a near triple-double of 31 points, 16 rebounds, 8 assists, and 2 steals as he captured his second PBA championship.
The Gin Kings’ loss put to waste a sensational performance by rookie RJ Abarrientos, who erupted for a career-high 31 points.
Fourth quarter
- FINAL: TNT repeats as Governors’ Cup champion with a 95-85 win in Game 6
- TNT 95-85: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson with the free throw split
- TNT 94-85: Roger Pogoy for three
- TNT 91-85: Kelly Williams gives the Tropang Giga a 6-point lead with 1:20 remaining
- TNT 89-85: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson exploits the mismatch as he scores inside again with 2:32 left
- TNT 87-85: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson putback
- 85-85: Kelly Williams with the equalizer with 4:40 minutes left
- GINEBRA 85-83: Justin Brownlee regains the upper hand for the Gin Kings
- 83-83: Roger Pogoy with another three-pointer
- GINEBRA 83-80: RJ Abarrientos is on fire
- GINEBRA 81-80: Jayson Castro splits his free throws
- GINEBRA 81-79: RJ Abarrientos from four-point range
- TNT 79-77: Roger Pogoy swishes the trey
- GINEBRA 77-76: Jayson Castro banks it in
- GINEBRA 77-74: RJ Abarrientos ends the scoring drought for the Gin Kings with a triple
- 74-74: Rey Nambatac ties the game with a corner trey
- GINEBRA 74-71: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson makes the bonus
- GINEBRA 74-70: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson dunk off a no-look pass from Kelly Williams
- GINEBRA 74-68: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson putback
Third quarter
- END OF 3Q: Justin Brownlee comes alive in the third quarter to help Ginebra mount a 74-66 lead
- GINEBRA 74-66: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and-one
- GINEBRA 74-63: Justin Brownlee power move
- GINEBRA 72-63: Glenn Khobuntin again
- GINEBRA 72-61: Maverick Ahanmisi inside
- GINEBRA 70-61: Glenn Khobuntin over three defenders
- GINEBRA 70-59: Scottie Thompson skies for the putback
- GINEBRA 68-59: Rey Nambatac completes the fast break
- GINEBRA 68-57: 6 straight Justin Brownlee points
- GINEBRA 66-57: Back-to-back buckets from Justin Brownlee
- GINEBRA 64-57: Tough shot from Justin Brownlee
- GINEBRA 62-57: Roger Pogoy short stab
- GINEBRA 62-55: Stephen Holt for three
- GINEBRA 59-55: Japeth Aguilar sinks the fadeaway jumper
- GINEBRA 57-55: Jayson Castro locates Roger Pogoy for the fast break finish
- GINEBRA 57-53: Stephen Holt wide open from the corner as he drains the three-pointer
- GINEBRA 54-53: Strong drive by Scottie Thompson
- TNT 53-52: Calvin Oftana attacks the basket
- GINEBRA 52-51: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson answers
- GINEBRA 52-49: RJ Abarrientos midrange shot
- GINEBRA 50-49: Calvin Oftana makes Ginebra pay with a trey
- GINEBRA 50-46: Japeth Aguilar 1/2 at the line
- GINEBRA 49-46: Stephen Holt stops on a dime and drains the jumper
- GINEBRA 47-46: Jayson Castro with another fast break conversion
- GINEBRA 47-44: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson nails his charity shots
- GINEBRA 47-42: RJ Abarrientos continues to torch TNT
- GINEBRA 45-42: Stephen Holt putback
Second quarter
- HALFTIME: Ginebra ends the second quarter on a 9-0 run to grab a 43-42 lead
- GINEBRA 43-42: RJ Abarrientos now with 18 points as he gives the Gin Kings the upper hand
- TNT 42-41: Maverick Ahanmisi for three
- TNT 42-38: RJ Abarrientos with another perfect trip at the stripe
- TNT 42-26: RJ Abarrientos 2/2 at the line
- TNT 42-34: Jayson Castro scores over Japeth Aguilar plus the foul then makes the bonus
- TNT 39-34: Japeth Aguilar splits his foul shots
- TNT 39-33: Jayson Castro sinks the triple from the top of the key
- TNT 36-33: RJ Abarrientos with 7 straight points for Ginebra
- TNT 36-31: RJ Abarrientos drops the long bomb
- TNT 36-28: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson answers
- TNT 34-28: RJ Abarrientos with another tough shot
- TNT 34-26: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson 2/2 at the stripe
- TNT 32-26: Calvin Oftana hits the technical free throw
- TNT 31-26: RJ Abarrientos from beyond the arc
- TNT 31-23: RJ Abarrientos with the tough bucket over Rey Nambatac
- TNT 31-21: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson cans his freebies
- TNT 29-21: Rey Nambatac bounces back from his earlier blunder with a lefty layup
- TNT 27-21: Maverick Ahanmisi left wide open for the triple
- TNT 27-18: Jayson Castro completes the fast break
- TNT 25-18: Glenn Khobuntin buries the corner triple
- TNT 22-18: Justin Brownlee floats it in
- TNT 22-16: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson misses the first but makes the second free throw
First quarter
- END OF 1Q: TNT ends the opening quarter with a 21-16 lead behind Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
- TNT 21-16: Japeth Aguilar catches the Tropang Giga defense sleeping
- TNT 21-14: Maverick Ahanmisi with the free throw split
- TNT 21-13: Kim Aurin dials from long distance
- TNT 18-13: Stephen Holt 2/2 at the stripe
- TNT 18-11: Kim Aurin sinks the baseline jumper
- TNT 16-11: Scottie Thompson attacks
- TNT 16-9: Poy Erram hauls down the offensive rebound and converts the short stab
- TNT 14-9: Rey Nambatac drops it off to Calvin Oftana
- TNT 12-9: Rey Nambatac counters
- TNT 10-9: Japeth Aguilar sinks the midrange jumper
- TNT 10-7: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson slams it home
- TNT 8-7: Justin Brownlee jumper is good
- TNT 8-5: Ralph Cu from deep
- TNT 8-2: Back-to-back hits for Rondae Hollis-Jefferson as he hits a triple
- TNT 5-2: Lefty layup for Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
- TNT 3-2: Rey Nambatac for three
- GINEBRA 2-0: Justin Brownlee breaks the scoring ice
Preview
End or extend?
After dealing Barangay Ginebra a soul-crushing 27-point Game 5 blowout, TNT goes for the kill, while the Gin Kings seek to fight another day as they go at it once more in Game 6 of the PBA Governors’ Cup finals at the Araneta Coliseum on Friday, November 8.
Following back-to-back losses to the Gin Kings in Games 3 and 4, the Tropang Giga bounced back in style with a 99-72 Game 5 annihilation on Wednesday, November 6, for a pivotal 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven affair.
It was a defensive masterclass for TNT as it held Ginebra to its lowest scoring output in this playoffs, as well as the Gin Kings’ superstar import Justin Brownlee to his PBA career-low 8 points on 3-of-13 shooting.
Battling fatigue the whole series, Brownlee’s counterpart and Best Import of the Conference Rondae Hollis-Jefferson didn’t even have to play extended minutes and put up monster numbers as TNT essentially put Ginebra away as early as halftime with a 56-33 edge.
The Tropang Giga even led by as many as 36 points at one juncture of the ball game, 84-48, in front of 12,727 fans at the Big Dome.
However, TNT head coach Chot Reyes knows it won’t be another walk in the park for the Tropang Giga in Game 6 as he expects Brownlee and the rest of the Gin Kings to come out with guns blazing.
“We just need to be ready. We know [Brownlee’s] going to come out hard, as is the entire Ginebra team, so we just need to make sure that we stay on our toes and be prepared for a big Ginebra fightback in the next game,” said Reyes.
Will the Tropang Giga close out the series and capture their second straight Governors’ Cup title or will the Gin Kings stay alive and force a Game 7?
Game time is 7:30 pm. – Rappler.com