By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
And that’s how champions respond when they have their backs against the wall.
Talking about a masterclass performance in a grand finals stage, the TNT Tropang Giga pushed all the right buttons and obliterated Barangay Ginebra, 99-72, during their highly-anticipated Game 5 duel in the ongoing PBA Governor’s Cup championship series on November 6, 2024, at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
It was a wire-to-wire victory for the Tropang Giga, who immediately set the tone in the opening quarter courtesy of an inspiring performance from their veteran big man Kelly Williams.
The former PBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) showed flashes of his old self, displaying a vintage performance when he dropped seven points in the first period that steered the Tropang Giga to a hot start.
After Williams’ early eruption, the rest of the guys just picked up where he left off and shared the offensive load, capitalizing on another cold start that the Gin Kings couldn’t afford in the pivotal Game 5.
Just like games 1 & 2, coach Tim Cone’s wards had a rough start shooting the leather, allowing the Tropang Giga to take advantage of any window of opportunity that was served in front of them.
Things got worse when the official buzzer for the second frame kicked off as the Gin Kings only managed to score five points in the first five minutes of the quarter.
Due to poor shooting, the Tropang Giga established an early double-digit cushion and capped off the first half with a dominant 56-point output compared to Ginebra’s 33 generated buckets.
Despite any in-game adjustments that the Gin Kings deployed in order to chip away their deficit, the waxing hot TNT squad just kept on hoisting buckets and connected most of their three-pointers.
At the end of the third quarter, Ginebra fans already exited the stands as TNT managed to build their biggest lead of the ball game at 36 points, the most cushion they had in the ongoing championship series.
It was all TNT in the fourth as Cone already waived the white flag early in the canto, sending in an all-bench lineup with eight minutes still remaining in the game.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson showed the way for the Tropang Giga as the reigning Best Import of the Conference delivered a double-double outing of 16 points and 10 rebounds.
The leftie star didn’t have to play much in the fourth with the sizable lead that they had and tallied the efficient stat-line in limited minutes.
Meanwhile, the scoring duo of RR Pogoy and Calvin Oftana torched the Gin Kings as they chipped in 16 and 15 markers, respectively.
Williams, the man who set the tone after his fantastic start in the first quarter, ended up with 11 points while veteran point guard Jayson Castro almost had a triple-double with 10 markers, seven boards, and seven dimes.
TNT will look to wrap up the series if they win Game 6 today, still to be held at the SMART Araneta Coliseum at 7:30 PM.
Will they close out the championship series and continue their winning streak over the Gin Kings or will Ginebra’s never-say-die attitude rise to the occasion and help them force a winner-take-all Game 7?
